Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Rumi had been tired of the same old routine that burned into her skull—get up, work, home, sleep. And for any other person, they found comfort in having the same old routine they get to follow down to a T, but not Rumi. It felt monotonous and boring, chipping away at her youth each time she walked inside the same white four-storey building at eight in the morning.

The security greets her, bowing slightly for courtesy and respect. Rumi just mirrors him in respect, bowing and saying a little morning greeting before walking inside.

It felt like the any soul she had even had before walking, was almost instantly taken away from her hands the moment she makes the walk inside the double glass doors of their office. The low ceilings paired with the bright ceiling lights that gave the interior of their office a sick and hospital feel to it—if their work hadn’t already given that feel, then certainly the office’s furniture had. Aside from the LED lights that seemed like one second away from flickering on and off indefinitely, there sat a sad beige and worn-out couch tucked away at the corner of their small office room. Cubicles made up most of their office until their HR got replaced last year with a younger employee then all of a sudden, a lot of changes were made in the office. One of those changes were having the cubicles got thrown away and instead were replaced with desks.

Rumi sluggishly makes her way to her desk by the far end of the room, her movements languid, making it clear how she had never wanted to be here in the first place. But she needed to be, after all, this was her last resort into making a living here in Korea. Of course, Rumi was a trust-fund baby and she always had something to fall back on, but there’s a pathological need to do something to impress your parents—for her, she had the need to want to show to them that she didn’t need it, that she could live without it.

And to Rumi’s credit, she manages to work well without. Until everything feels dull and suddenly all she wants to do is pursue her passion in arts with the money she’s promised the moment she was born. But that was having it easy—that wasn’t who Ryu Rumi was.

“Hi Rumi!” Her deskmate eagerly chirps at her, flashing a smile at her. A smile so bright it felt like it could light up the room. She swivels slightly in her office chair so she faces the purple-haired girl across her. “Isn’t this great? Oh I’m so glad they removed the cubicles”

It’s only been a week. Rumi thinks. But she smiles back at her deskmate. “Glad it’s making you happy, Zoe” She chirps back, trying to match her enthusiasm but Rumi’s energy already burnt out the moment she step foot in their building.

“It sooo does” Zoey giggles. “I could see everyone” She swivels her chair, spinning around, before abruptly stopping in front of Rumi. “I could see you” Another giggle escaping her lips—it’s feels like a melodic tune right in Rumi’s ear.

Well at least someone finds work exciting. She thinks as she smiles back at Zoey, putting on another façade in front of her officemates with how much she absolutely loved work.

“That’s great” Rumi’s eyes dart to the figurines on Zoey’s desk, eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Since when were you into turtles?”

“Oohh since forever!” Zoey excitedly replies. She places her laptop down by her desk as she peers behind it to continue talking with Rumi. “I’ve always had this one” She picks up a figurine among the line of figurines she has by her desk. It looks faded and worn out, but the resemblance of a turtle was still clearly there. “But then it felt lonely so I added these guys yesterday” She grins as she places it back down before pointing to her collection.

Rumi nods in response as she hears Zoey go on and on about the collection of turtle figurines by her desk, excitedly telling Rumi the story of each one. She just smiles in response, not wanting to be rude and possibly build an awkward tension between them.

Then a ring booms across the office speakers, echoing throughout their dull office.

“Ugh” A groan escapes Zoey’s lips as she stops midway through her rambling of her deep fascinations of turtles. “Always hated hearing that” She scrunches her nose.

“It is annoying” Rumi agrees, eyes trained on the laptop in front of her as she types away.

“It is” Zoey sighs as she leans back on her office chair for a brief moment, before sitting upright with a grin on her lips. “Wanna have lunch together later?” She asks excitedly, eyes twinkling as her lips tugged upwards into a grin.

And Rumi always loved to keep to herself. Whenever the chance would arise during high school, she’d often keep to herself during lunch, not wanting to add to the chaos she already has in her life. But despite the constant need to be alone for most of the time, Rumi’s done an exemplary job at being a student council member or any position of power during her high school and college. And she can thank her mother for it—for planting that seed in her with how she’s never amounted to anything.

But there’s a stronger need in her to please everyone she crosses paths with, no matter how hard it came to be—Ryu Rumi always found away to be liked. “Sure” She replies, flashing Zoey a half-smile despite already reaching her quota of social interactions for the day.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

And when Rumi had thought that being deskmates with Zoey was already too much for her—having to hear her go on and on about god knows what, then came lunch.

She just tries her best to smile and nod in response, adding eating to cycle every once in a few minutes. It was overstimulating, her mind tries its best to process everything Zoey’s telling her about. But it seemed like the short girl talked just as fast as she typed.

“You really love turtles” Rumi comments after a while, burger in hand as she looked at her deskmate.

Zoey blinked as she stopped talking. Her eyes are twinkling with fascination and desire as she nods. “I do” Zoey responds, grinning from ear to ear. “Sorry” She says after a while that Rumi actually feels guilt slowly washes over her for the times she’s slowly zoned out and blocked Zoey for half of their lunch. Her smile faltering as she focuses on the salad in front of her.

Rumi sits up, propping her elbows on the cafeteria’s white tables as she flashes a smile at Zoey. “No, continue. I think it’s actually nice when I hear someone talk passionately about something they love”

Then just as if Rumi had flicked a switch, Zoey’s eyes twinkle as her lips tug upward into a smile. “Really?”

Rumi nods in response, munching on what’s left of her burger. “Yes” Her voice muffled as she chews on it.

Zoey clears her throat as she goes on with her little rambles. “So like I love them to death, but I can’t keep one in my apartment—”

“Why?” Rumi interjects, swallowing the rest of the burger down. “Sorry, just curious”

“Oh it’s fine!” Zoey replies, giggling. “My landlord doesn’t let me, so instead I just bought this massive turtle plushie—it’s like half of my height”

And if there was one thing about Rumi aside from constantly wanting to prove something or make something of herself, it was that she often didn’t think before she spoke or opened her mouth. “You’re pretty small” She blurts out. Then her eyes widen in realization as she swallows thickly. “I-I mean you’re pretty cute for your height…Sorry” She tries to make up for the slip of tongue as she grimaces.

But her deskmate doesn’t take it to heart as she lets out a hearty laugh. “It’s fine, Rumi”

Rumi feels a heavy weight fall off her shoulders as she hears Zoey’s response.

“But yeah, the turtle isn’t that big, just feels a lot bigger than me” Zoey shrugs. “How about you, Rumi, what are you into?”

Rumi purses her lips as she tries to think deep and hard. What did she like? She liked being alone and playing in her free time, but that sounded sad and it wasn’t exactly the lasting impression Rumi wanted to leave behind for her deskmate, who had just apparently learned what Rumi finally looked like after a year of working together.

But of course, who was Ryu Rumi if not for her constant slip of tongue. “I like playing video games and being alone”

Zoey lets out a laugh. “You’re funny, Rumi”

Rumi just lets out an awkward chuckle in response, nodding slightly. She’s beyond thankful her deskmate finds her impulsive attitude as something that could be disregarded as funny and witty even, instead of being repulsed by even the mere thought of being near her.

“I like playing video games too” Zoey cheerily replies. “What do you play?”

“Just some shooter games, or well, whatever passes by my feed”

Zoey nods along to Rumi. “That’s fun! We should totally play some time” She winks. “Here, I’ll write down my username and you can add me when you get home”

Rumi watches as Zoey grabs a paper out of her pocket and starts jotting something down, which Rumi can only assume to be her username.

“But don’t hand this out to anyone else, okay?” Zoey extends her hand, the piece of paper fit sitting nicely on her palm.

Rumi nods, muttering a small ‘okay’ as she grabs the paper. She never really knew anyone else outside of work which made Zoey’s efforts to remain unknown to others fruitless.

“I just don’t really like it when people I don’t know send me requests” Zoey mutters, lips tugged downward into a pout.

But Rumi does her best to reassure her it’d never be shared with anyone else other from her and her laptop when she’d get home. And Zoey’s thankful for that as she grins and sings praises of thanks to Rumi.

Rumi found it odd seeing Zoey’s response to a simple action such as agreeing to her. But she just sets it aside as she pockets the paper.

But the purple-haired girl would get an answer to her own question when she’d come home late at night—traffic was always the worst when she had to leave the office after her shift. So Rumi, in a state of rage and feeling all that pent up anger almost burst at the seams—desperately wanting a release—decides to log into her laptop and boot up the same shooter game she loves to play whenever she feels the stress rise in her body.

She doesn’t even have the time to throw off her work outfit as she walks inside her apartment. Shoes tossed to the side as she hurriedly makes her way to the bedroom. She heaves out a sigh, feeling the four walls of her bedroom bring her comfort after a long and tiring day. Her bag gets discarded somewhere along the way from her bedroom door to the desk that sat beside her bed. A resigned sigh escaping her lips as she falls down onto her chair, feeling the soft fabric of the seat provide comfort to her aching back.

She doesn’t waste time as she switches on her laptop and boots up the horrid game. You’d think that with the amount of hours Rumi had poured into it that she’d be even the slightest better at it—but no, Rumi had still absolutely sucked at it, even going as low as blaming her teammates with every death she had incurred during the matches. But she still played it—seeing as how it gave her some sort of comfort or release whenever she’d play.

A few matches go by and Rumi hadn’t even noticed the time, not until she gets an email about work that throws her off her whole mood as she slumps back in her chair.

Then she remembers the promise she’s made her deskmate earlier. She scurries to grab her work jacket that she’s tossed aside along with her shoes, rummaging through the contents of her pocket until she manages to fish out the paper Zoey’s handed her.

Once it’s in her hands, she walks over back to her bedroom where her laptop’s blinking on and off as it idly stands by, awaiting for Rumi to return—and when she does, the laptop gets turned on again almost instantly.

Rumi hurriedly types up the name up on her search browser. She hears the announcer in game in the background say something and Rumi knows just by the tone of it that it’s indicating the start of her game—it’s an all too familiar phrase that she has it basically ingrained into her mind that she hears it in her sleep. She taps the first site offered to her by the browser before switching her tabs and playing the game just in time for her to not get punished for being AFK—it was something that Rumi had absolutely hated and wanted to avoid ever since her first ban.

Then suddenly she hears clicking in the background. Rumi stops her movements in game, fingers frozen as she tries to listen carefully for it. She’s known the game inside and out to not know every noise the game made.

Rumi does her best to shrug it off as she continues on with the game. Then she hears it again, and Rumi knows for certain it’s something outside of the game. She checks her team’s mic and sees how it’s all off, even hers. The purple-haired girl gets stumped as she tries to figure out the source of the noise.

Then she hears something other from the clicking.

“Thank you for the donation”

It’s a deep and sultry voice she’s unfamiliar with. Rumi decides to close the game despite it being the start of the game—she knows she’s bound to get a ban when she logs in again by tomorrow, but the urge to get to the bottom of whatever she was hearing was stronger than the urge she had to mindlessly shoot until her brains turned to mush.

Then she sees it. Once the game closed completely, all that remained on her screen was an unfamiliar site.

What the fuck? Rumi squints her eyes, trying to make out the video playing in front of her.

“Oh, you’re too kind” Her voice deeper than Rumi had imagined with her outfit; a sleeveless bodysuit paired with knee-high socks. But it wasn’t the outfit she had on that intrigued Rumi—it was the mask she had decided to put on her face to pair up with her outfit that piqued Rumi’s interest. “Thank you for the donation”

The mask stretched and covered her entire face except for her eyes. Brown. Rumi thinks as she can barely make it out with the dark interior of the video. It’s a livestream, she comes to realize when she sees the comments and the flashing red dot at the top of the sight.

It must’ve been an ad she mistakenly clicked by mistake. Her cursor hovers over the large red X by the edge of her screen. But instead of pressing it, Rumi just stays silent as she watches the livestream in front of her, fingers ghosting over the button of her mouse.

She watches the masked girl trail her fingers down her body, winking at the crowd. “You want this off? Already?” Her voice feigning innocence as she does her best to look at the camera with a doe-like expression. “Someone’s a little excited tonight”

Then she hears it. The unmistakable giggle she hears so often from the office—it’s the same one she’s heard for a year now, but Rumi shakes her head.

She takes one good look at the girl in the video, watching the way she interacts with her fans, and thinks, surely this isn’t her.

And just like that, the video gets disregarded almost instantly as Rumi closes the game. But she can’t help but stare at her empty screen as she decidedly turns off her laptop, her reflection staring right back at her as the video replays almost instantly in her mind.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The moment the next day came, Rumi had already long forgotten the video as she prepared herself for another day of work. Another day of toiling away at a life-sucking work she’d have to do for another two days until the weekend finally rolls in.

She walks inside the office, shoulders slouched forward as she feels her soul once again get deposited by the entrance of the office—as if a requirement before entering the office. She sluggishly makes her way over to her desk before plopping down and placing her bag by her desk.

Rumi throws her head back, letting it hit the headrest of her desk chair. She swings slightly in her chair as she waits for the loud ringing of their office bell.

“Hey”

Rumi shoots up in her seat as she looks at Zoey. “Hey, Zoe” Rumi greets, this time with a little more energy than she usually does.

Zoey pouts at her. “You didn’t add me last night, I was waiting for you”

Guilt fills Rumi as she offers an awkward grin at Zoey. She scratches her nape. “I’m sorry, Zoe. I kinda fell asleep last night” She offers up her flimsy excuse of an apology, hoping and praying that the shorter girl would take it at face value.

To Rumi’s surprise, Zoey just nods in response. “It’s fine, Rums” She replies, her lips tugged up into  a smile that made Rumi all the more guilty for not pulling through. “I was a bit tired from last night as well”

Then she hears it—the unmistakable giggle.

Rumi’s eyes widen as if she was a deer caught in headlights. Zoey notices this almost instantly and waves a hand in front of her deskmate.

“Hellooo? Earth to Rumi?” She teases as she waves her hand in front of Rumi.

“Y-yeah” Rumi shakes her head slightly, hoping to shake away the thought of her as well. “Sorry, just a bit tired” She adds, yawning right after to really sell it in.

Zoey pouts. “You should take care of yourself, Rums” She says, her hand just ghosting over Rumi’s.

“Don’t worry about it” Rumi replies, flashing her a smile, despite feeling herself lose her mind past the smile she put on.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

As soon as Rumi got home, she ran straight to her laptop, tapping away at it as she opens her browser. She goes through her history to find the site she’s mistakenly opened last night, and when she does, she goes through the website only to feel disappointment wash over her.

There’s no livestream on the site, instead it’s just the girl’s page on her screen.

❁strawberry_princess❁
20+ | are u here to have fun? ;) | link below <3

Rumi shakes her head. This surely wasn’t the same person and she had just been hallucinating. She closes the browser and opens up her account. She types in Zoey’s username in and sends in the friend request.

Almost instantly it gets accepted and Rumi gets a chat from Zoey.

str4w_berry.princess (Zoey): heyyy :)

Rumi blinks at the username. She blinks once, then twice for good measure. Had she unknowingly typed the wrong username? But surely it had to be Zoey, her display name said so.

purplerumi (Rumi): Hi!
purplerumi (Rumi): Sorry I almost fell asleep again :(
str4w_berry.princess (Zoey): it’s fineee rums
str4w_berry.princess (Zoey): you wanna do one game?
purplerumi (Rumi): sure :)

Then an invitation gets sent almost instantly and Rumi scurries to tap accept.

It all happened so fast. First it was just a game then came another then another then suddenly they’re both on a call, just talking about anything that came to mind—just anything to keep the conversation going.

“Oh I have the turtle with me!” Zoey giggles.

“Really? Can I see?” Rumi asks, her cheek pressed up against her palm as her elbow rest on her desk. Her lips curled up into a half smile as she looks at the screen in front of her, seeing how it’s Zoey’s avatar on it. Then it gets replaced by the familiar face of her deskmate.

“Look” She moves back so she could bring up the massive turtle plushie. She holds it up for Rumi to see.

Rumi chuckles as she looks at the turtle. “It is massive”

“See” Zoey sticks her tongue out. “Told you it was massive” She then gets up, and throws the turtle onto her bed.

And for the brief moment where Zoey does the mistake of walking away from the screen, she feels her palms become clammy and her heart thump out of her chest. Because despite the dark view of the screen, she knows it’s too much of a coincidence that everything in Zoey’s room just so happened to be exactly like the room in the live stream.

Chapter Text

But Rumi stops and thinks rationally for a second. This surely wasn’t the same person she saw a couple nights ago.

Her fingers tapping away until she sees the familiar site’s name pop up in her browser’s search engine. Zoey’s video placed to the side in a multiview pop-up along with the browser. Rumi watches as the site shows the exact same thing from a couple hours ago—no livestream, no notification, no nothing.

Rumi leans back in her seat as she nods along in response to Zoey’s rambles off-cam.

“You know? Like I always thought that maybe they would’ve changed it” Her voice slightly muffled as she chews. She makes her way back onto the view of her webcam as she sits back down on her chair. “Then we wouldn’t have to pay for ten thousand for parking each month”

Rumi’s eyes still wide, palms still clammy and drenched, and heart still clearly thumping out of her chest. But she does her best to calm down as she musters a response to her rambles.

“But that’s just me” Zoey giggles, and Rumi swore every time she heard that giggle, something in triggers in her and she’s sent into a panic.

“R-right” An awkward smile spread on her lips as she nods. Her purple hair now untied and let down freely as she runs her fingers through her hair. “It’s getting late, we should sleep” Rumi suggests—it’s a flimsy attempt of ending the call, but it was better than having to sit through the rest of the call while trying her best to let the uncomfortable recollection of the livestream play in her mind every time her friend giggled or winked at the camera.

“O-oh it’s already eleven in the evening” Zoey’s eyes dart to the bottom of her screen. “Haven’t even noticed.” Her gaze moves back to Rumi as her painted lips drag down into a pout. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, roomie—get it? cause you and I share a desk, but it’s kind of like sharing a room”

“Yeah I totally get it” Rumi interjects, stopping her friend’s rambles midway. She offers a smile at her, waving at the camera before hitting the end button as fast as she could.

The moment the left side of her screen turns to black, Rumi lets out a long sigh of relief. Her back slouching against the leather fabric of her chair, eyes trained on the screen in front of her, arms gripping the arms of the chair.

She had to forget about the livestream if she even wanted to have a casual conversation with her deskmate. Her room dark and empty save for the light on her screen emanating enough to light up a part of her bedroom. Rumi stares at the screen for a bit, seeing the browser of the unfamiliar site sit nicely on it. She shakes her head as she drags her cursor to the glaringly large X button by the top right of her screen.

Then, ding!

A puzzled look etched all over Rumi’s face, eyebrows knit together in thoughtful crease. It’s a notification from the website, indicating a message from the girl.

❁strawberry_princess❁
hello berries <3 miss me? livestream tomorrow 8 😘

Rumi blinks. Her finger still ghosting over the mouse’s left button as she stares intensely at the message. Then another notification pops up in front of her.

Get notified when ❁strawberry_princess❁ is online?

Now she could do the most rational thing anyone who was in her situation do, and exit the browser and log off, forget about the site, and go about their life their merry way—which Rumi could do and this would all be a distant memory to her and her life would proceed like nothing happened.

But that’s leaning into the boring and monotonous life she’s set to live while she worked her hours off at her 9-5 where she feels her soul get sucked out of her slowly by slowly. So her cursor moves at the speed of light and she taps the glowing green button that indicated her desires on wanting to get notified.

A message from the site pops up indicating a success message and a set time for the next livestream.

Rumi swallows thickly as she stares deeply at the message. It looked like tossing this away to the side and going on about her life was something that’d be a distant memory to her instead of the opposite.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The purple-haired woman was determined to get up and change—taking charge of her life and owning up to the life she’s going to live one step at a time. And that first step just so happened to be to put her nose in places where it didn’t belong, which so happened to be in her deskmate’s business.

Rumi gets to work earlier than usual, wanting to get to the bottom of everything. Her movements opposite of her usual demeanor as she zooms past the desks before hers and Zoey’s, taking long and quick strides to get to her desk faster. There wasn’t a need as urgent as getting into her deskmate’s business that made her pick up her pace for the one year she’s spent being in this building.

She drops her things down by her chair as she looks around, doing her best to remain inconspicuous despite looking like she had just murdered a person and was now frantically looking around for any witnesses. And when she was certain no one else had even caught a glimpse of her or what she was doing, Rumi walks over to the other side of the shared desk. Her heels clacking in response to her agile movements, but she couldn’t care less.

Rumi leans down behind Zoey’s desk, her eyes scanning the contents of her deskmate’s open drawers. Stacks of papers, paperclips, pens, and even more stack of papers—it was all boring work stuff. But Rumi was determined she would get to the bottom of it, or at least figure something out as she continued slightly rummaging through her things.

She moves the desk chair to the side as she pulls the drawer. Her eyes scanning the contents of the drawer as she pulls on it, eyes widening as she notices something hidden and tucked away in the darkest corner of the drawer.

Rumi tries to pull on it but the drawer gets stuck instead and she feels her heart drop to the lowest pits of her stomach as she tries to pull on it again but to no avail. The atmosphere around the office was thankfully full and lively—the coworkers were going about chatting before the time for work came and they had go their separate ways to their desks. And Rumi thinks it’s the perfect opportunity to pull on the desk’s drawers as she hears the chatters become louder with each second. She times it whenever she hears something loud—a sneeze, a laugh, or even a shout—just anything loud to keep the noise of pulling on the drawer muffled.

Then she hears it—her coworker’s familiar joke which earned him the title of the work’s class clown. Rumi always found it annoying, and she wanted nothing more than to gut him or seal his annoying mouth shut and sealed. But now, Rumi was waiting for him to say one of his famous jokes, because of course he always had the constant need to be ostentatious, and Rumi was thankful for his pretentious attitude, because he cracks a joke, which earns his co-workers laughs. It’s just loud enough to echo throughout the office, and definitely loud enough to muffle the noise of the drawer breaking free as she Rumi pulls on it hard. She sees the contents of Zoey’s drawer fall to the ground in an instant.

A grimace spread on Rumi’s painted lips as she helplessly watches the contents of Zoey’s drawer fall to the ground. She scurries to gather it together into a pile before pushing the drawer back into its slot. Her eyes scan the contents on the ground, frowning when she doesn’t see anything remarkable or anything that tied her back to the website Rumi’s stumbled upon. But then again, it’d be stupid to just leave something as important as that lying around in your workplace no less.

Of course it’s stupid, Rumi—you’re stupid. She thinks as she does her best to scoop up the contents of the drawer that’s lying on the floor in front of her and placing it down onto the half-opened drawer.

She mumbles something to herself as she continues her act of scooping and dropping in a speedy cycle, not wanting to waste a second and possibly get caught. But then Rumi gets a sudden realization of everything—of how she’s almost cleaned up but the office feels too quiet—too quiet.

Then she sees an unfamiliar set of heels that stopped right in front of her. Rumi feels sweat profusely rolling down her forehead as she stares at the heels in front of her, hands holding the last scoop of contents from Zoey’s drawer—a stack of sticky notes and paperclips that has Rumi wondering why she even had the need to keep a constant stock of paperclips for.

But Rumi braces herself for whatever scolding she’s about to get, and what little interaction she had with Zoey to be ruined completely after the little incident that occurs today.

Then she opens her eyes and slowly looks up, expecting her short deskmate but instead she’s greeted with a different face—a lanky woman who’s aura exudes elegance and professionalism so effortlessly that Rumi instantly bows down, muttering stream of apologies. She hadn’t in the slightest had a clue on who the person was in front of her even—but she seemed to be different than that of her coworkers, she knew that much.

“I’m so sorry, I was just cleaning up and—”

“What were you doing, Miss Ryu?” Her voice sharp and deep, cutting into Rumi’s skin as she spoke.

“I-I was looking for something—y-yeah I was looking for something” Rumi replies, hands holding and gripping the remaining contents of Zoey’s drawers tightly in her hands.

“In Miss Son’s drawer?” Her head tilted slightly to the side in response to Rumi’s flimsy excuse of her weird attitude.

“She forgot to give these back to me” She holds her cupped hands up, as if in offering to the tall pink-haired woman in front of her.

“Paper clips and sticky notes?” She crosses her arms across her chest, eyebrow slightly raised, and lip curled up into a slight smirk. “If you really needed those supplies, Miss Ryu, then I suggest you file a complaint to the HR and I’ll have it signed and approved in a flash. Please don’t take your co-workers things—I’ve had enough complaints about those” She replies, a smile plastered on her lips but her tone and the way she carried her words was anything but soft. She stares at Rumi for a while before waltzing away, heels clacking in her wake.

And when Rumi finally feels like she’s finally left, she lets out a loud sigh as her shoulders slump forward. Her heart still racing from the encounter, as her mind tries to even process what had just happened. But she picks herself up from the ground as she dusts her office slacks. All of her co-workers had just silently went back to their different desks, silently toiling away despite the bell not yet ringing across the office.

Rumi shakes her head, hands still cupped with the contents of paperclips still resting neatly on her palm. She makes her way over to her side of the desk and slumps back down onto her desk chair, feeling it swivel slightly under her weight.

She tries to make sense of things or even try to figure out who in the world was that—then maybe everything would click and make sense. But her peace gets short-lived when she hears the cheery voice of her deskmate approach her from behind.

“Hey Rumi” She cheerily greets as she takes her seat across from her.

“H-hey” Rumi greets as she sits upright in her chair, hands still cupping the items.

“What do you got there, Rums?” Zoey asks, smile plastered on her lips as she leans forward in her desk.

Rumi’s eyes widen as she sweats profusely, eyes darting to where Zoey’s eyes were glued to. Then she comes to a sudden realization with how the paperclips were still in her grasp. “H-here, there was a rat in the office and it came into your drawer” She offers her cupped hands to Zoey, hoping that her deskmate wouldn’t find a flaw in her words that would rise suspicion between them.

But Zoey just seems to take the bait as she grabs the items from Rumi’s palms, thanking her deskmate a bunch for saving her items. Rumi feels guilt wash over her for even doubting Zoey or even casting suspicion about her.

The day goes by like normal for Rumi. Work, like as ever, was unremarkable that just had her counting down the hours until the bell would ring again and they were free to do as they pleased. However, her routine gets broken and tossed to the side when lunch came and suddenly it was like clockwork for the two deskmate to get up and walk to the cafeteria together to share their lunch time together, not that Rumi was complaining—no, she found joy in breaking the monotonous cycle she had of toiling away at work, going home, and sleeping. Now, she had a new addition to her routine, one that was unpredictable—just what Rumi exactly needed.

“Zoe” Rumi asks when lunch time came and the two of them were sat at the same table they were at yesterday.

“Mhm” Zoey replies, her reply gets muffled by the food in her mouth.

“Do you know anyone in the office with pink hair?’

Her deskmate stops chewing almost immediately as she looks at Rumi with puzzled and terrified look on her face. “Pink hair?”

“Yeah” Rumi replies. “Tall, pink hair, kind of terrifying...” Her voice dropping with the last few words. A cool feeling passing through her spine as she recalls the earlier encounter back at the desks.

“Oh” Zoey swallows the rest of her lunch before she turns back to look at Rumi. “Jeong Mira”

Rumi tilts her head in confusion, eyebrows knit together. “Who?”

Zoey blinks. A melodic laugh leaving her lips as she looks at Rumi as if the purple-haired girl had just said something so hilarious.

“Zoey, who is that?” Rumi asks, whining slightly as she looks around and sees their coworkers eyeing them, slightly judging them as the raven-haired girl laughs.

“You seriously don’t know Jeong Mira?”

“No but I would if you just told me”

“She’s the new HR—y’know, the one that replaced the old timer a couple days after you transferred here”

Ah. Rumi’s lips press into a thin line as she finally comes to a realization of who it was. It made sense she hadn’t really gotten the time to learn who their new HR was despite it being a year since her addition to the company’s workforce. By the time Rumi had joined their company, she was barely in her mind that time—her thoughts focused solely on trying to adjust and understand their work, not even finding the time to learn about her deskmate hidden behind the cubicle between them until a couple of months in.

“Why?” Zoey asks, lunch tray already cast aside as she leans forward on the table. Her eyes trained on Rumi’s brown orbs.

“Nothing” Rumi replies, waving her hands dismissively. Lips curled up into a smile as she could only hope that her deskmate would move on and ignore her suspicious query.

And to her surprise, Zoey just nods in response and goes on about the new game she’s found on her news feed, to which Rumi responds with an invitation to play it on the weekend—when they’d have all the time to spend in their evenings.

Then came the end of their shift where Rumi and Zoey part ways by the parking lot. Rumi waves at her deskmate as she stands by the driver side of her sedan.

Zoey stops just by the entrance of the parking lot and winks at Rumi, blowing a kiss at her before leaving.

A burning sensation makes its way to Rumi’s cheeks as her cheeks turn to a reddish tint. She waves back at Zoey before quickly getting inside the driver seat. Hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as her chest heaves up and down.

It’s just Zoey being Zoey. Rumi thinks as she tries to calm herself down. Her hands loosening in their grip as she fishes her key out of her bag, jamming it into the key slot before turning on her engine.

And for the drive home, Rumi’s thoughts get focused on the idea of kicking off her shoes and playing the video, maybe eating dinner somewhere along the way as well, but that was for her to think about later.

It takes approximately twenty minutes for Rumi to drive back home to her apartment from their office building, but with traffic it gets almost doubled—add in the fact that there’s a new driver in front of her during the time she passes through an intersection and its another ten minutes.

So by the time Rumi gets to her apartment, she’s already pent up and even all the more stressed since she’s left the office. She kicks off her shoes, haphazardly tossing it to the side of her shoe rack as she takes off her vest, discarding it on the coat hanger right next to the rack before running into her bedroom. Her bag gets tossed aside to the side of her bed as she sits in front of her laptop and boots it up.

One game wouldn’t hurt, and it’s not like she planned to spend the rest of her night gaming—it was just for a quick match so she could relieve some of the stress that’s pent up over time especially with the traffic she had to sit and drive through.

Fingers tapping at the mouse and keyboard rapidly as the match’s timer was rapidly decreasing, until it hit zero and Rumi just slumps back in her chair as she stares at the screen, satisfied when she sees the win indicator pop up. Her lips tug upward into a satisfied smile as she feels all the pent-up stress and anger just wash away in an instant. She leaves the game as she gets up and makes her way into the kitchen.

She pulls open her fridge and grabs the first packaged meal she sees before tossing it into the microwave. It never really bothered Rumi how much packaged meals she consumed, not because of the cost, but mainly because the purple-haired girl couldn’t even cook for the life of her. If she had to cook to save her own skin then she’d just end up calling her mothers and telling her how much she loves them before taking the bullet straight to her brain.

The microwave beeps and she hurriedly grabs the meal out before making her way back into her bedroom. She scrolls through the browser, trying to look for a decent video to look through as she ate her meal when she suddenly gets a notification.

❁strawberry_princess❁ is online!

Rumi’s eyes widen as she stares at the notification for a good minute. The thought and the memory of the livestream that took place a couple nights ago had already been tossed to the side as she went on with her day that the moment she got home, the thought of even opening the website hadn’t crossed her mind.

But here she was now, in front of her laptop, meal in hand, and live stream playing in front of her.

She sees the large green blinking icon by the top right of the screen indicating the user being online. There’s a black screen in front of her with the loading icon rolling in front, but despite the video not yet playing, there’s already comments piling in, saying how excited they are for the stream.

Rumi scrunches her nose, disgust slowly filling her system as she watches the comments talk about how they want to have the so-called ‘strawberry_princess’ to themselves—talking as if they owned her.

But then the video cuts to a dark room. Rumi squints her eyes and she sees that it’s the exact same room from the first livestream that she had stumbled upon by accident.

“You guys missed me?”

It’s the same dark and sultry voice from the first stream. Rumi’s only heard a couple of seconds from her from the last time she saw her stream, but it left a lasting impression on her—deep enough that Rumi wants to comment, say something about her. And for once, she finally comes to a realization with the comments, finally understanding how they’re so entranced by the girl that they want her all to themselves.

But Rumi knows better. She shakes her head as she places her meal down by the side, eyes focused on the stream.

The bodysuit she wore from the last stream was no more and instead she had don on a two piece bikini—green and small that it barely left anything to the imagination—then the same mask she’s put on from the last time. There’s a flood of comments that blocks the bottom left of the stream, most of them expressing how much they’ve missed the girl, then comes in the donations.

“Sorry” Her voice was sweet like honey, coaxing anyone who was watching to leave a comment or to even donate—hell, even Rumi was tempted to burn through some of her money. But she had to focus. The main reason she was even in here in the first place was to figure out if the girl was even her deskmate, which was a really incredulous assumption that it’s even stupid to even think about it.

But here Rumi was, fingers ghosting over her mouse as she stares intently at the screen.

“Was a bit busy yesterday” Her fingers trailing down her abs, stopping briefly by the hem of her bikini. “But I’m here now, my berries” She winks at the screen.

Focus, Rumi. She thinks as she looks at the video, trying her best to look around the room for anything—any indicator that it was her deskmate, but to no avail.

“What’s what?” She stops in her movements as she moves closer to the camera, presumably trying to read a comment. “Oh this?”

Then Rumi sees it.

She sees the way the girl picks up the unmistakable large green turtle in her arms, watching as it almost covers half of the girl.

“Finally got to buy it last month thanks to our lovely berries who donate” She winks. The turtle placed in front of her on the bed. “Thank you” She forms a heart with her hands.

Now Rumi knew—there was basically hard evidence and it had to be more than just a coincidence at this point. The question now was how was she going to go about it?

Chapter Text

It was undeniable that it was her bubbly and charming deskmate, Zoey. Surely it had to be her, all the signs were there—same room layout, the same massive turtle plushie that she just loved to the ends of the earth, and the same giggle she hears every time she found something hilarious. But one thing Rumi couldn’t pinpoint was her voice.

The longer that the purple-haired girl tuned into the livestream, the more she came to a realization with how it looked like Zoey—the room, the turtle, the body physique she possessed. It all pointed to her cheery deskmate that Rumi hadn’t even had the slightest idea on the secret life she’s living. But all of it felt like it wasn’t like the turtle-loving chatty friend that Rumi’s grown close with over the past week.

She watched as trained and practiced fingers moved with choreographed precision, as if this was ingrained in their mind. Then came the teasing with her fingers in between the hems of her bikini, tugging on it slightly. Rumi’s eyes wander to the bottom of the screen, watching the comments pour in almost instantly.

ion1080: so hot!
bbrent_69: please give us more
user293283: take it off

Her mouth twitch and curl downward almost instantly into a grimace as she reads the rest of the comments, watching how they carry their words around the streamer as if she was nothing but an object to them. But Rumi knew better, she wasn’t any better than the next guy who’d waltz into her stream and comment on how she’s teasing them. So Rumi just keeps her mouth shut as she tries to gather as much of the evidence she needs before she decidedly logs off.

Her brown orbs staring at the blank screen in front of her; mind trying to process the events that unfolded in front of her because it just seemed to block out and refused to comprehend how her deskmate could exude innocence so effortlessly and turn around do exactly the opposite. But being naïve was something foreign to Rumi so the thought gets pushed aside, but it still lingers constantly at the back of her mind.

Even as she gets to work and sits in front of the very same person she’s almost seen naked in front of a live audience.

“How was last night?” Rumi asks. She knows it’s a sudden question, not a type she’d ask Zoey on a whim—heck she barely even asked Zoey anything or even initiated a conversation with her during their work hours, saving all of it for the time they head to the cafeteria for lunch. But the thought had been gnawing at her, eating at her thoughts as she tried her attempt at pushing it away by tapping away at her work computer, eyes trained on her screen but occasionally drifting to the girl across from her.

Zoey just peers behind the screen, elbow resting neatly on the table as her cheek is pressed up against her palm. There’s a smile spread across her face as she looks at Rumi. “Tiring” Her red lips curling down into a pout. “Was busy doing something”

Rumi’s fingers slip as she hears the words that come out of Zoey’s lips. Calm down, Rumi. She thinks as she nods along to Zoey’s response, fingers flying to type up the report she needed to submit today.

“I mean” Zoey leans back, her work already put on pause the moment she’s heard her deskmate say something. “It usually isn’t that tiring” She pauses as she swivels slightly in her office chair. “But I guess there were just some things I had to do” Then out comes the very same noise that haunts Rumi every time she tunes into the stream—Zoey giggles. “Anyways, enough about me” She leans forward, pressing her body against the desk as she leans to the right, giving Rumi a full-view access of her deskmate instead of just the small buns she’s tied behind her. “How about you, Rums?” Her lips pressed up into a half-smile.

“I, uh” Rumi stammers as she tries to find the right words. Was watching your stream. Is what she would’ve said if she hadn’t done her best to prevent her constant slip of tongue. So she tries to find the right words before she eventually settles on an excuse, just something to get Zoey off her back. “Was playing that game you mentioned yesterday”

The brown orbs staring right back at hers basically twinkle at her response. “Really? I wanted to play it with you but I got too shy to ask” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as her cheeks glow pink. Then Rumi’s thoughts get cast aside again as she thinks about Zoey’s mannerisms and the way she acted in front of Rumi, eyebrows knit together.

“Y-yeah we should totally play together” Rumi suggests, doing her best not to trip over her words.

“Oh oh how about tomorrow?” Zoey is basically bouncing off her desk chair. “It’s Saturday and we can stay up” She grins.

Rumi composes herself as she nods in response to Zoey, a small smile making its way to her lips. “Sure, Zoe”

Afterwards, the two go about their work as if nothing had happened—well for Zoey that is. For Rumi, the purple-haired girl is stuck trying to keep the distracting thoughts at bay but her deskmate proved it to be a hard task whenever she’d get up from her desk, winking and smiling at Rumi whenever she’d pass by her.

Then eventually came the treacherous lunch hour which had become one of Rumi’s favorite time to spend at their company during work hours, not until her deskmate had started joining her. And admittedly, Rumi enjoyed the short girl’s presence, finding her fascination in turtles and the ocean to be something admirable as she listened in on her rambles. But the familiar website often made its rounds to the forefront of her thoughts and all Rumi can do was pray and hope that she wouldn’t slip up and say something that’d reveal to Zoey how she’d been watching in on her streams—not that she was even sure it was actually Zoey, or that she hadn’t even been watching it for the same reasons the thousands of viewers she had were.

“Hey, have you tried that barbeque place that’s like one block away?” Zoey asks after lunch was set aside and the two were in their own conversations.

“Oh the one that opened last month?” Rumi asks, leaning back in her seat.

“Yes!” Zoey excitedly replies, clasping her hands. “Will you please go out with me to that place? Please?” Zoey’s eyes wide as she juts out her bottom lip, hands clasped together as she leans closer to Rumi.

The purple-haired girl looks away as she swallows thickly, feeling her deskmate’s expression slowly get to her. Her eyes dart back to Zoey and sees that the poor girl was still pleading, eyes giving off a doe-like expression—certainly the opposite of what Rumi had seen in those streams. “Y-yeah” She breathes out, eyes avoiding Zoey as if it’s a plague.

“Did you say yes?” Zoey asks as she moves to her left, trying to catch Rumi’s gaze and attention.

Rumi just shoots up as she nods. “Mhm yes!” She replies, eyes still avoiding Zoey.

But the latter hadn’t minded as she grins, wrapping her arms around Rumi. “Oh Rumi, you’re the best!”

Rumi just nods along, her hands awkwardly wrapping around Zoey’s back as she gives it a few pats before letting her hands fall back to the side.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The rest of the day had been unremarkable for Rumi with the only thought that kept repeating itself in her mind, being her and Zoey having to visit the barbeque place just a block away. Rumi’s heard of it—passed by it even—but the idea of even setting foot on that place never crossed her mind. It felt too rich for her taste, seeing the luxurious cars pilled up by the parking lot of the store.

But here she was now, with Zoey as they made their way into the parking lot.

“Are you sure it’s fine driving all the way there?” Zoey asks as she stands by the passenger side of the car. Her fingers fiddling with her ring as she patiently waited for Rumi’s response.

“Of course” Rumi smiles at her, throwing both of her thumbs up as a sign with how it had been fine with her. “I’ll just park the car there as well” She opens the passenger door for Zoey, watching as the short girl smiles at her, cheeks flushed, as she gets inside.

Rumi jogs over to the driver side, opening it before getting inside. “Sorry, I haven’t really gotten the time to look for new cars yet” She admits embarrassingly. It’s the same car she’d been using since college, and to its credit, it had been working fine since then. But Rumi was sure it had 21 different things wrong with it and was basically due for oil change—hell it was even due to getting scraped and replaced with a car that wasn’t going to explode any moment.

But Zoey just giggles in response, hand lightly smacking Rumi’s arm. “Oh Rumi it’s fine” She smiles, her hand still resting over Rumi’s bare arm.

Curse herself for the one day she decides to put on something other than her long-sleeved polo is the one time that she gets skin-to-skin with her deskmate. Not that Rumi hated Zoey—no, in fact the hair on her skin starts to rise in response to Zoey’s featherlight touch. Her touch sending waves of shivers across Rumi. It didn’t help that they were both in the comfort of Rumi’s small car. She just swallows thickly as she starts the car and drives away.

The drive to the barbeque place was short and filled with silence. But it was neither awkward nor was it uncomfortable. They’ve gotten to know each other even more than just on the superficial level of small talks they’d have in courtesy of bumping into each other.

She pulls the car into park as they arrived by the barbeque restaurant. Her black sedan falling short of the luxurious and lavish sports cars parked beside hers. She gets out of the car and jogs over to Zoey’s side, opening the door for her.

“You didn’t have to” Zoey says, her cheeks still flushed. “Come on” She grabs Rumi by the arm, dragging her with her to the restaurant.

The receptionist greets them as she guides them to an empty table. There’s barely any customers inside and Rumi could see why—the walls were flush with a brown wallpaper that screamed luxury as it stretched up to the ceiling, tables spaced apart by a mile which showed that the capacity never really bothered the owners, receptionist, servers, and cooks dressed so professionally that Rumi starts to wonder if this had even been a barbeque place.

They stop just right by a booth by the corner of the room where Rumi and Zoey take their seats across from each other. There lay a small circular built-in stove in the middle of their table.

So it still is a barbeque place. Rumi thinks as she looks around, shrinking under the rich and lavish atmosphere the place effortlessly exudes.

The receptionist bows, leaving the two of them alone by their table.

Rumi feels her words get stuck in her throat as she looks at the marble countertop of the table in front of her.

“They have a buffet here” Zoey excitedly chimes, smiling at Rumi. “Come” She gets up from her seat as she grabs a hold of Rumi’s hand, dragging her with her.

And Rumi—she let Zoey do as she pleases. After all, it was the short girl’s idea and suggestion to even come over to a luxurious restaurant as this. And when they went over to the buffet, grabbing every meal from left to right, Rumi starts to wonder how much it’d all cost.

Sure, she was here to have fun and more importantly, accompany Zoey to try it out. But she wasn’t all that sure now as she looks at the mountains of food in the table between them. Her mind racing to calculate everything, but it gets interrupted almost instantly by Zoey holding a piece of mandu up with her chopstick.

Rumi’s eyes widen as she leans in and takes a bite out of it. All her stress and worry washing over in an instant as she feels the flavors dance on her tongue. A satisfied noise leaves Rumi’s mouth as she chews on the hot piece of mandu she’s taken a bite of, and suddenly it made sense to her why her deskmate had been so persistent to come over here and try it out despite it most likely costing a liver to pay for.

The two take turns between eating and feeding each other any of the food that’s they’ve decidedly placed on the table. It felt intimate, romantic even, but that thought had been pushed aside by Rumi as she feels her mouth water with each bite. She never really got to eat a homecooked meal or even any other meal aside from the food served in the cafeteria, and she has no one else but herself to blame really—her and her lack of will to even try to cook after she had almost burned her kitchen to the ground.

So to taste various meals was like heaven for Rumi’s mouth. She takes a bite of something, feeling all the various flavors on her tongue—flavors that her prepackaged meals couldn’t offer or even comprehend. Then she’d offer the same thing to Zoey, holding it between her chopsticks. The latter would take a bite out of her, a burning red tint on her cheeks every time she’d been offered something by Rumi.

But the purple-haired girl was too engrossed with the mountains of food in front of her to even notice.

By the time the food had been munched on and stuffed into their stomachs, then came the bill that made Rumi’s eyes wide. She had forgotten about the thought of even paying—forgetting how costly it must be to have all those meals.

She fishes out for her wallet, grabbing a couple bills before handing it to Zoey, who refused it.

“Zoe” Rumi shyly says as she holds the bills up.

But Zoey just waves her hand dismissively, smile plastered on her lips. “It’s on me, Rums” She says before winking at her. She places her card down by the bill before handing it to the server.

“But—”

Zoey giggles, cutting Rumi off. “Rums” She drawls out, hand stretched over the table as she grabs hold of her deskmate’s hands. Rumi feels the featherlight touches send shivers down her spine again, but she does her best to compose herself. “It’s fine, I swear” She beams up at her. “Just save it for next time” She winks.

Rumi nods, her hand still underneath her deskmate’s as her mind wanders to the possibility of a next date between them. She presses her lips into a thin line before it curls up into a smile.

Once they get their bill back, the two of them make their way to the parking long where Rumi insists on driving Zoey home, saying how it’s the least she could do.

Though Zoey rejects it at first, not wanting to impose, she eventually caves in and goes inside Rumi’s car.

“It’s just a little close from here” Zoey says as she gets inside the car.

Rumi nods as she puts the car into motion, driving off based on the directions her deskmate is giving her and eventually arriving at an apartment building not far off from the barbeque place they were just dining in. She pulls into the small driveway by the entrance of the building before putting the car into park.

There’s silence for a bit, only broken by the unbuckling of a seatbelt. “You should come inside”

Rumi looks around as if there had been someone else with them in the car. “Me?”

“Yes you, dummy” Zoey teases, giggling.

Rumi swallows thickly as she unbuckles her seatbelt and goes to follows Zoey inside the building. She watches as the latter guides her to the elevator, tapping a card on the side before walking inside the elevator. Rumi quickly follows her inside before the doors close on them.

“This is a pretty nice place”

“Thanks” Zoey grins. “I managed to score a unit on this place at half the price when I first moved in”

“That’s pretty great, Zoe”

Ding!

The two of them walk out of the elevator at what Rumi can only presume to be the top floor, seeing as how they’re high up in the building.

Zoey walks over to the end of the hallway, stopping abruptly by the last door. “Thanks, I mean working at our company really helps with the bills” She types in her passcode by the door before pulling on the handle. “But it’s not really enough, y’know?”

Rumi just nods as she follows her inside, her eyes wandering the apartment before her. It wasn’t all that grand but it certainly was a lot better than Rumi’s, seeing how her kitchen had an island in the middle unlike Rumi’s were it was just a few counters, a stove that she barely even used, a microwave, two sad stools, and a fridge. It was like something out of a magazine.

“Coffee?” Zoey asks as she walks into the kitchen.

“It’s fine” Rumi replies as she walks into the kitchen with her, eyes darting along everywhere.

“Thanks for today, Rums” Zoey says, leaning back onto the counters.

“It’s nothing, Zoe.” Rumi replies as her gaze finally darts back to her deskmate.

“But it is” Zoey beams at her with a smile that radiated warmth. “Come, I’ll show the turtles” She grins, urging the purple-haired girl to come follow her.

Rumi quickly follows the short girl, trailing right behind her until they stop by a door. Zoey turns around and pushes the door open before turning back to face Rumi.

“Ta da!” She says as she gestures at the small mountain of plushies by the bed’s edge.

But what caught her attention the most was the large plushie by the side of it. Rumi knows it’s the exact same one she saw from the video. The room layout was now unmistakably the same one—from the stream she wasn’t even supposed to have seen.

“It’s a lot” Zoey bashfully admits. “But I try to do a gig on the sidelines to pay for stuff like these”

“What do you do?” Rumi blurts out as she kneels to touch the plushies, eyes widening at the slip of tongue. “I-I mean if you don’t mind me asking”

Zoey giggles. She sits by the edge of the bed, looking down at her deskmate that’s kneeling by the plushies.

“Kind of like…posting for the public. Hmm, maybe it’s a lot more similar to streaming?”

Rumi almost chokes on air as she hears the words leave Zoey’s mouth. She nods in response. “A-ah so like on Twitch?” She asks as if she hadn’t had the slightest on clue.

“You could say that” Zoey replies. Then there’s silence for a while as Rumi’s hands and eye stayed focused on the adorable plushies in front of her.

“You know, Rumi, I’d love for you to join me”

Rumi awkwardly chuckles, thinking it’s just Zoey being Zoey. So she doesn’t take it seriously, taking whatever Zoey said lightly. Until she felt the silence become a bit too much and the tension in the air becoming too thick for her that she looks up and realizes the expression on Zoey’s face meant that her words were anything but joking. Zoey’s brown orbs boring into Rumi’s as she sat neatly on the edge of the bed, hands on the mattress below—an overall innocent look for her deskmate as if she hadn’t just singlehandedly suggested the most sexual notion ever to Rumi.

“Streaming?”

Zoey clears her throat as she breaks her gaze for Rumi—there’s a slight shift in Zoey’s personality. The bubbly and carefree demeanor she possessed was thrown off for a moment before she smiles again at Rumi, giggling as if the atmosphere wasn’t different just a moment ago.

“Yeah, think about it” She winks.

“Y-yeah, I will” Rumi nods, offering a half-smile at her before getting up. “I should get going” She says to Zoey, bowing slightly before hurriedly making her way out, trying her best to act so casual as if she hadn’t been internally exploding at the offer made to her by her deskmate. She turns around by the hallway.

Zoey’s pressed up by the doorframe already, smiling and waving at Rumi.

Rumi just smiles back at her, waving at Zoey before hurriedly making her way to the elevator. Once she’s inside the elevator she just hurriedly taps the ground floor button. Her mind racing as million of thoughts fly past her, all trying to process what had just happened.

Chapter Text

Rumi’s mind was once an empty space—the only constant thoughts that stayed and roamed around it was work, and even then it was the exact same old work thoughts that constantly made rounds. Now its filled with various thoughts of her deskmate. Zoey’s suggestion burning a hold into her mind against her will, and suddenly it’s like it unlocked a floodgate of questions that poured in almost instantly—thoughts like “did she mean what she said?”, “does she mean what I think she means?” or even maybe “does she know I know?”.

The last question in particular left a lasting impression on Rumi—had Zoey known all along? And if she had, what game was she even playing with Rumi?—or maybe, Rumi had been thinking about all this too deeply and the short girl that was known to be her deksmate hadn’t even had the slightest clue of anything that’s going on.

Then her thoughts get broken by a small noise of a tapping, followed by the familiar voice of the same person who’d been in her thoughts since their last encounter.

“Rums?” The sound echoing throughout the headphones she has on.

Rumi’s eyes dart around the screen as she leans in. She had forgotten about the game in front of her—her mind too focused on the thoughts circulating and running through her mind that the game playing in front of her became least of her worries.

The purple-haired girl sits up, fingers pressed up against the sides of her black headphones. She swallows hard, mind trying to block out those previous thoughts to prevent herself from losing her wits slowly and slowly with each passing second. She clears her throat before moving the mic closer to her lips, watching as it’s ghosting over it. “Y-yeah”

A sigh of relief comes after. “Oh I thought you disconnected”. Then the familiar noise of a giggle. “Come, we have to run around to get to their base”

Rumi just hums uninterestedly as she follows Zoey’s avatar mindlessly on the screen.

She hears Zoey on the other end, saying something about the game, talking about it’s gotten her hooked and how she hadn’t stopped thinking about it.

Rumi tries her best to focus, saying her piece every once in a while, so as not to make Zoey feel as if she hadn’t been tuned in to their conversation.

Then a couple of hours pass and Rumi’s done a good job of keeping the thoughts at bay for the duration of the game until she gets a notification by the bottom of her screen.

❁strawberry_princess❁
livestream tomorrow <3 see you, my berries 😘

Rumi eye twitch as she notices the notification. She’s done a great job so far of not even letting the thought of the livestream even make a subtle round in her mind—it’d been tucked away at the deepest depths of her mind. She glances at the screen, eyes fixed on trying to find Zoey’s avatar. And when she does, she observes—it’s unmoving and seemed to be for a while as she sees its idle animation play. There’s nothing on her headphones as well, no noise, no giggle, no Zoey. Her eyebrows furrow together in thoughtful crease.

Then she tries calling out for her. Her throat dry and parched from the notification but she does her best to talk, not letting it form a lump in her throat. “Zoe?” She asks, her voice soft.

There’s silence for a few seconds, before she hears the same tapping noise from earlier. “Hey!” Zoey excitedly says into her mic. “Sorry” Her avatar starts moving as it walks closer to Rumi. “Just had to deal with something”

Rumi’s lips press into a thin line as she nods. Of course you were. Rumi thinks, but she bites back her tongue as she nods despite Zoey not being next to her.

“I think it’s late” Her eyes dart to the clock by the side of her desk. It’s brightly flashing 1:34 am before her. She fakes a yawn as she stretches out her arms despite having absolutely no need to do so. “I think I’m going to head out”

Then came Zoey’s soft whine, and Rumi couldn’t see her deskmate’s face but she just knows her like the back of her hand and she knows that the short girl had been pouting behind the screen. “Okay” She says. “It was really nice playing with you, Rums” She chirps up.

“How about tomorrow?” Rumi interjects.

There’s silence on the other end, followed by a question from her deskmate. “Tomorrow?” She asks, confused.

“This was really fun and I was thinking of maybe playing with you tomorrow” Rumi replies. She’s trying to gauge out Zoey’s response, trying to see how her deskmate would reply.

She can hear Zoey’s humming on the other end, followed by a tut. “I’m sorry, Rums. I kind of have something to do”

Rumi’s lips tug downward slightly upon hearing her friend’s response. But she already know about it—about how Zoey would just have to decline.

Rumi doesn’t know whether it’s the fact that they had just spent hours talking and playing together, or if it the time—something about Rumi and her pathological need to do something so stupid, to act on her own impulse, whenever the clock hit past midnight. It was definitely the latter, Rumi thinks. Something about the atmosphere just sent a message to her brain to go and act on her impulsive decisions, to be bolder and more firm with her thoughts. “Streaming?” She asks.

She hears Zoey chuckle from the other end of her headphones. “Yeah” She breathes out. Then there’s silence again. Rumi had gotten familiar with the sound of silence, it was something she’d often be enveloped and surrounded by most of the time whenever she wasn’t at work. So for her to be surrounded by it again at one in the morning—it was supposed to give her a sense of familiarity. But instead she’s on the edge of her seat as she feels the familiar warmth of silence wrap its arm around her, because there wasn’t one moment of silence whenever it came to being with Zoey.

“You should think about it, Rums” She hears Zoey’s familiar voice say into her mic.

And Rumi hadn’t exactly known if she had preferred the silence she was met with while hanging out Zoey, or if she had liked this side of her deskmate—a side she seemed unfamiliar with, a side that the shorter girl seemed to not want to freely show around with anyone else. Her voice was deeper, and her tone held more sincerity and sharpness to it.

Rumi’s lips press together into a thin line before she heaves out a silent sigh. “I’ll think about it. Nice playing with you, Zoe”

She hears Zoey cheerily say her sentiments back at Rumi before the call eventually gets dropped. Rumi instantly removes her headphones as she throws it onto her bed by the side. Her head thrown back onto the chair’s headrest, hands flying to cover her face as she tries to think about what had just happened. Then suddenly the million questions she had thought about Zoey had suddenly resurfaced and made its way to her mind again.

Rumi gets up from her seat, her legs feeling like jelly as she does so. Her hands instantly flying to the sides of her table, gripping them tightly as she steadies herself. Her breathing slightly ragged as her eyes trained on her slippers below. She takes a few moments to gather and compose herself before she walks to the other side of the room. She grabs a hoodie from her cabinet, slings it onto herself, before she hastily makes her way to the front door of her apartment. Rumi’s fingers finding her keys by the bowl near the door despite the dark and dimly-lit apartment.

She haphazardly puts on a pair of shoes before leaving her apartment, keys thrown inside the pocket of the hoodie along with her hands. Rumi quickly makes her way out, wanting to clear her mind.

The cold air of the outside hitting her straight in the face as she walks out. She feels the breeze past right through her, silently thanking herself for her decision to haphazardly put on a hoodie before rushing out. Cold fingers interlocked together underneath the comfort of the hoodie’s pocket as she walks through the cobblestone pathway of the sidewalk. Her feet dragging her to the familiar route of the park nearby—a place she often went to when she needed to catch a break or just to clear her thoughts.

The familiar scene of the park benches, streetlights, and shrubs coming into her field of vision. Rumi remembers all the times she’s often made her way to this specific park whenever times became too much for her when she had first moved out into the city. The first breath of fresh air always brought her comfort as she closes her eyes briefly.

She walks through the park, her movements languid as if taking her time to look through the same scenery she’s seen multiple times over the last year. Then she stops abruptly by the last streetlight in the park, eyes wide and heart racing.

Rumi tries to think fast as she scurries on her feet, trying to look for a place—any place—just to hide. But then the worst imaginable thing happens instead. They lock eyes for a brief moment.

Rumi is frozen in fear as she locks eyes with her, feet unwillingly staying in the same spot instead of bolting anywhere, even back home to her apartment.

Pink hair sway slightly as a gust of wind passes them both. Brown orbs staring and boring into one another into a stare off at the middle of the park past midnight—it was definitely a scenario that hadn’t even crossed Rumi’s mind, not even once. She hadn’t even had the slightest idea or clue that she had lived close to her. But here she was, standing frozen in front of the same pink hair she saw a couple days ago. She watches as her head tilts slightly to the side, as if watching Rumi in fascination.

The air is thick with neither person speaking up, instead there’s an uncomfortable silence lingering heavy in the air. Rumi doesn’t know how to act. She’s never really met her in person save for the times she’d come across her by the hallway, but other from that it had only been that one awkward encounter by their desk where Rumi’s actually gotten to meet her face to face. And since then Rumi had been desperately hoping that the pink-haired girl would suddenly or miraculously lose memory of it.

So Rumi does the first thing in her mind. She awkwardly bends down as she does her best to bow at her before hurriedly walking away. The fast clicks of her sneakers on the heavy asphalt being the only noise echoing in the empty streets. She waits until she’s a couple of meters away from the park before she turns around slightly, watching for the familiar pink hair. Her figure pressed flushed against the corner of a building as she ducks as her eyes scan the park. She spots her still at the park and Rumi wonders what had she been doing out so late. Then she sees her walk away in the opposite direction from her, off to god knows where.

Once she’s out of sight, Rumi slumps back against the wall of the building, heaving out a sigh of relief. She shakes her head before pushing herself up the wall, eyes darting around to see if there had been any poor soul in sight that had witnessed her awkward encounter. But to Rumi’s luck, there had been no one else, just like how there barely was anyone around at this time of hour.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“That night must’ve been a dream” Rumi mutters to herself, hands gripping the steering wheel a little too tightly. Her knuckles slowly painting white under her grip. Eyes fixed on the road ahead as the events of Saturday’s night replay over and over in her memories.

Pulling into the driveway of their company’s parking lot, Rumi shakes her head as she tries to focus on the task at hand—which at this point had to be to just survive work. Her eyes wander the parking lot. A frustrated groan leaves her lips. It’d only been the start of the day and it seemed like it already wasn’t working well in her favor when she realizes the main parking lot had been full. She’s now forced to drive the car down into the basement. It’s a place she rarely ever went to because it always gave her the creeps—the constantly flickering lights, the paint that was chipping off of the walls. It felt disconnected from their building, seeing how the interiors of the parking lot barely even matched the ones inside their main building.

She puts the car into park before turning it off and heading for the elevator.

As she stands in the crowd with her co-workers, she feels herself become conscious under their presence. Curse herself for the one time she decides to put on something casual like a pair of jeans with a graphic tee and to top it off with sneakers, is the one time the queue for the elevator manages to pile up.

She sighs as she walks inside the elevator, making her way to the backmost of the elevator. Rumi keeps to herself as she tries to pay attention to anything just to keep her mind from racing back to the memories of Saturday night. The elevator passes the bottom floors before it eventually reaches her floor, and just to Rumi’s luck, as she’s about to leave the elevator, her laces get stomped on and it comes undone.

Rumi lets out a silently stream of curses as she bends down and ties it, not wanting to accidentally walk and trip on the way out of the elevator. Heels clicking in rapid succession as a woman enters right before the elevator door close. Seemed like Rumi had to ride the trip up before making her way back down to the ground floor where her desk was.

As she manages to tie her laces together, she stands upright again. She feels the blood drain out of her, eyes wide in utter shock. Lips pressed together into a thin line as she remains unmoving at the backmost of the elevator. Everyone had already cleared out in the elevator except for her, which left her and the woman alone. Had it been anyone else, Rumi would’ve been fine. Hell, Rumi actually prayed that it had rather been a ghost than her.

A navy-blue vest paired with a pencil skirt that hugged her figures perfectly, and pink hair tied back into a ponytail. She held onto her briefcase with her left hand and her phone in her right. Rumi felt like the world was conspiring against her as she felt her presence somehow encroaching on her despite there being a large space in between them in the elevator. But as long as she stayed engrossed on her phone that meant she wouldn’t get caught, right?

Ding!

Rumi felt her breath hitch. She watched in her peripheral vision as Mira stayed glued to her phone. Just to her luck, it hadn’t been her stop yet and instead they’re joined in by a couple of suited businessmen. It seemed like an early meeting had just adjourned and they were eagerly making their way home the instant it ended. But that meant that they were being pushed back to the back of the elevator, to give space.

Rumi watches as Mira walks back until she suddenly gets into contact with Rumi. Her back hitting Rumi’s shoulder so softly. She puts away her phone as she turns to Rumi to apologize, their eyes making contact for a few short seconds. But those seconds felt like ages to Rumi as she feels Mira’s piercing brown orbs stare into her soul.

“I’m sorry” Her voice deep and holding command despite her words being of an apology.

Rumi just awkwardly grins as she waves her hands dismissively despite the small space. “I-It’s fine, Miss Jeong”

Mira’s eyes linger a little bit longer on Rumi, as if trying to piece something together with her eyes.

Ding!

Rumi feels a huge weight lift off of her shoulder as Mira turns back again and faces the front of the elevator again as she makes her exit off the elevator.

Rumi patiently waits until the elevator lowers again back to her floor before she hops off and makes her way to her desk.

“You look tired”

That was another thing Rumi had been eagerly doing her best to avoid, but she’s come to terms with how it felt like an impossible task with how they’re basically interlinked with their desks, and it didn’t help that whenever lunch time came they were basically attached at the hip—she can blame her deskmate for that.

“Just went out for a jog before coming here” A blatant lie. Ryu Rumi absolutely hated jogs, especially early in the morning where mind had been basically asleep until she manages to get to work. But she just hopes that Zoey takes it at face value instead of pressing forward with it, and to her luck, her deskmate doesn’t question it any further as she nods in response.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Tuesday rolls in for Rumi surprisingly well. It was like everything was finally back to normal, at least that’s what she had thought. The office had been dead silent except for the constant tapping away at their keyboards as they wrote up reports and articles to be submitted, even Zoey seemed to be focused on her work—her eyebrows knit together as her eyes trained on the screen in front of her. No words were exchanged between the two except for the morning greetings when Rumi had arrived, which was just a smidge before the bell had started to ring.

“Jinu” A surprised look etched on Rumi’s face as she sees her team leader walk up to her. A sullen look on his face as he holds stacks of paper in his arms. She stops typing as she swivels in her chair to face him.

He smiles as he drops the stacks of papers on Rumi’s lap. “Submit these”

Rumi compiles the papers neatly before wrapping her arms around them. She gets up from her seat with the same confused look etched on her face. “To where?”

“HR” Jinu replies. The smile faltering and the sullen expression making its way back onto his face.

Rumi’s eyes widen as she hears the team leader say the one word she had been dreading. She swallows thickly. “HR?” She repeats as if she hadn’t heard him clearly the first time.

“Yes” He replies with no stutter, expression still sullen and eyes boring and staring into her soul. “Heard Miss Jeong is extra bitchy today”

Ah. Rumi nods. “So you’re out here using me as a sacrifice?”

Jinu grimaces as he shrugs. “Sorry” is all he manages to say before hurriedly walking back to his desk.

Rumi heaves out a long sigh before she wraps her arms tightly around the stack of papers before making her way to the elevator. She begrudgingly makes her way inside, papers in her arms. It’s a stack of their latest reports that was due by last week, and Rumi just knows that Jinu’s basically left her to die at this rate.

Ding!

The one time Rumi had actually wished the elevator got up slowly or heck, even malfunctioned and crashed, plummeting down to the basement, it had instead headed to the top floor at record speed.

Rumi takes a deep breath before walking out of the elevator and making her way to the end of the hallway. There were barely any other offices up at the top floor, save for the HR’s secretary.

She takes one look at Rumi before opening the door that lead to the main office.

“Thanks” Rumi bows slightly, flashing a smile at her.

“Good luck” She hears her say as she passes her by.

A confused and scared expression plastered all over Rumi’s face as she takes small steps towards the desk by the other side of the door.

Heels clacking rapidly, echoing around the small office she was in. Rumi peers past the divider by the door and sees Mira pacing back and forth. Her pink hair that’s usually tied into a ponytail was now disheveled as she ran her finger through her hair.

Rumi carefully approaches her, making sure not to make a peep. But of course the HR office had the squeakiest floors after being cleaned thoroughly every other day. Rumi almost slips as her sneakers make a loud squeak after missing a step.

Mira stops almost immediately in her pacing. “Come in” Her tone sharp and direct. It held its own command as Rumi almost immediately walks inside Mira’s office as she hears those two words.

Rumi desperately held onto the stack of papers in her arms, finding comfort in being able to hold something as she entered the pink-haired woman’s territory.

She makes a sharp turn as she faces Rumi, eyes piercing into the purple-haired girl’s poor soul.

“What’s this?” She gestures to the stack in her employee’s arms.

“Reports” Rumi manages to get out with stuttering. She swallows hard as she tries her best not to avoid eye contact with Mira, but her piercing stare was getting too much for Rumi.

Mira grabs a sheet of paper from the stack, examining it. “Put it on my desk”

Rumi nods as she follows Mira’s instructions and places the stack of papers on her desk. She watches as the pink-haired girl squints her eyes, bringing the paper closer to her face.

She mutters out a stream of curses just loud enough for Rumi to hear as well. She holds the paper at arms length before moving it back closer to inspect it.

“Miss Jeong?” Rumi asks.

“Yes?” Mira asks as she turns to look at Rumi, eyebrows knit together.

“D-do you need glasses?”

There’s a moment of silence between them as Rumi feels the tension become thicker with each passing second.

 “Yes” Mira heaves out a sigh. “I forgot to wear my contacts today” Another stream of curses.

“I-I have an extra at my desk”

Mira eyes her, squinting them, before she nods.

“I’ll be right back” Rumi manages to say without stammering.

But she’s surprised when she feels a hand grab her by the arm. She turns back to look at Mira.

 “Don’t tell anyone at the office” Her voice sharp, but her expression…soft? She lets go of Rumi as she clears her throat. “No one else at the office knows”

Had this been the reason she had been extra angry today? Rumi thinks. But she just nods in response before heading out of her office to grab her spare glasses.

As Rumi slumps back, hands holding the railings inside the elevator, she thinks to herself, “This week is definitely not my week.”

Chapter Text

A resigned sigh echoes throughout the empty office. An hour of overtime finally paid off just in time for the clock to hit six in the afternoon. Zoey leans back in her desk chair, swiveling lightly as she peers past her screen, watching it slowly shut off in her peripheral vision. The desk chair in front of her that’s usually occupied by her favorite coworker now empty.

Her lips pursed as she pouts, huffing in response. Overtime was such a mood killer and it didn’t help that it was only her that had overtime this week.

It’s just for today. Zoey thinks, sighing again, The computer shuts off completely and she finally gets off from her desk, purse already slung over her shoulder. The office felt odd as it was empty, seeing all the empty rows of desk chairs that were once filled with her co-workers earlier, especially the one that had laid in front of her. Rumi had only looked at her with a pitiful expression on her face when she learned that her deskmate had to stay behind to continue on her overtime work assigned by their team leader.

It didn’t help that the office always had an ominous atmosphere, given the lack of decorations and the furniture—if you could even call it that—set in their office were in off-white and beige colors which did nothing but add to the hospital feel their office always had been giving since its last renovation.

Zoey hurries in her pace as she taps her ID by the exit. A satisfied hum leaving her lips as she sees her face by the scanner before she hurriedly exits the office. Heels clicking in rapid succession as she leaves, and if Zoey wasn’t mistaken she could hear a second pair of clicks on top of hers. But that was surely just her imagination—being cooped up in the office for too long certainly did something to her even if it was just for today. She tries to shrug it off as she hurries in her pace, feeling the eerie aura catch up to her.

“Miss Son”

She feels all the hair on her arms rise up as she hears her name on any other lips than her own. She was sure this place was haunted. She had made sure there was no one else at the office when she had left—she had even done a once-over twice to check and make sure she hadn’t left anything behind and even then there had been no one else but her and her own shadow casted by the horrific hospital-like lighting they had.

But she freezes, her feet absolutely refusing to move as she hears the same clicks in rapid succession other from herself.

“Miss Son” She repeats, and this time Zoey can hear her voice clearly and it’s not an unfamiliar voice. She’s heard it maybe once or twice in her entire stay at their company.

Zoey closes her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, before she opens her eyes and turns around. A smile plastered on her painted lips. Her ears and eyes certainly hadn’t deceived her. “Miss Jeong” She says, her lips curled up.

“You’re still here” The pink-haired woman points out, stopping just a foot away from her employee.

“I had overtime” She sheepishly admits, watching Mira’s curious reaction to her response.

Her pink lips pressed together as she nods. “Your team leader?”

“Park Jinu” Zoey replies, her eyes widening as she realizes. “H-he did nothing. It was a long overdue thing, anyways” An awkward laugh leaving her lips.

The HR looks at her with an amused expression on her face; eyebrow raised and lips curled up into a half-smile. “Okay” She replies.

And for a brief few seconds, silence envelops them and that would’ve fine with Zoey had this been her deskmate. But it wasn’t. Instead, it was their HR standing in front of them as the tension thickened and she felt her throat slowly get parched.

“Do you have a ride?” Mira speaks up after those brief moments of silence.

“No, Miss” Zoey replies, and when Mira tilts her head slightly in curiosity, she adds, “I walk to my apartment”

“In this late of the evening?”

It’s only six. Zoey wants to say out loud, but she decides against and instead just smiles at Mira’s offer. “It’s alright. I don’t want to impose”

And Zoey was sure that whatever she had felt for the pink-haired woman in front of her was purely something born out of fear for her job—that she had only been scared of her whenever they’d cross paths or even lock eyes for even just a few seconds. But after hearing the words leave her mouth in response to her—Zoey felt something inside her stir; something she wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Mira’s voice deep and heavy as she said the next words. “Oh, but you’re not.” It’s sweet like honey but sharp like a blade cutting right through her. “Come, ride with me” Had the air shifted? Or had Mira always had a deep voice as she did just now?

Zoey snaps out of her trance as she just shakes her head softly. “It’s alright, Miss Jeong” She offers her a smile, but Mira is persistent.

“It’s night and I’d hate for something to happen to you”

And again, Zoey feels something in her stir. But she tries her best to think rationally for a moment—feelings and irrational thoughts set aside. This was only because she’s an employee under her. Zoey thinks, and she nods in response. She knows how persuasive their HR is, and she knows there’s no losing against her—not that Zoey minded really. “Okay” She replies, finally caving in to her boss.

Mira just walks in front of her, gesturing for her to come follow her. And Zoey trails behind in response, heels clacking in response as she hurriedly follows Mira to the parking lot.

They make their way to the only car left in the parking with Mira in the driver seat and Zoey in the passenger seat, not that Mira’s car even had a backseat to begin with. It felt somehow intimate and professional at the same time having to ride in Mira’s sports car, feeling her hand on the gear shift be a couple millimeters away from grazing her knees.

But Zoey tries her best to focus on the road ahead. It was only a two-minute ride from the office to her apartment.

“Can you give me directions?”

The small space between them doing nothing but making Zoey feel hot and flustered, coupled with Mira’s deep and sultry voice—what was she thinking even? This was her boss. She subtly tries to take a deep breath as she nods. “Yeah” She breathes out in response.

They pull out of the parking lot driveway and into the highway just right outside their company’s lot. “It’s just a little past that barbeque store” She points out with her left hand. The store wasn’t that far off from their company, recalling the last time she had been there with Rumi as they ate mountains and mountains of food.

Mira does the mistake of leaning into her right, her cheek pressed slightly against Zoey’s bare arm as she tries to make out where the short girl had been pointing at. “Where?” She asks, her breath hitting Zoey’s arm, the hair on her arms rising in response.

“T-there” Zoey tries her best to continue holding her arm up as she points out at the next intersection.

“Mhm” Mira hums intelligently as she leans back into her seat. She turns on the signal blinker as she prepares to make a turn.

Zoey feels the weight on her shoulders drop as she slowly eases back into the seat, not even realizing when her shoulders had started to tense up.

“And then?”

“Just straight ahead” Zoey replies, refusing to look at her left, seeing how Mira glances at her through her peripheral vision.

And when they’re nearing the apartment building, Zoey mutters a ‘stop’. Mira steps on the brakes slowly until she comes to a full stop just a couple of feet away from her building. “Thank you, Miss Jeong” Zoey does her best to bow in the front seat of her sports car before leaving the car.

She waits until by the foot of the building, watching as Mira pulls out of the driveway and leaves. The short girl heaves out a resigned sigh before she hurriedly makes her way up the building.

Once inside her flat, Zoey leaves her sandals by the shoe rack before hurriedly making her way to her bedroom. She zooms around her room, prepping the lights and her bed, ensuring that everything was set for tonight’s stream. It was an exhausting act to put up, having to go out of her way to prepare everything so she can put up an act in front of a couple thousands of viewers. But that’s what brought Zoey joy, having to perform in front of all of them with the sense of anonymity that her mask had brought her.

She heats up a leftover from last night’s take out before she goes back inside her bedroom and gets changed into something skimpy for the stream she’s about to host in a couple of minutes. It was something she had desperately needed after today’s events. She needed to unwind and relax, and what better way to do it in front of a couple thirsty fans that’d be willing to pay her for stuff she would’ve done in private—it was a win/win for Zoey.

She takes the leftovers out of the microwave, chowing down on it as she heads back into her bedroom. She sets her laptop just right by her bed so she could read on the comments, it was something she loved doing every time she started to stream. She always found it fun and exciting seeing how her fans had thirsted for her. Their reactions always had elicited something inside her and it always made her streams all the more fun as she watched them send donations just for her to be able to read their comment.

She sets the rest of the take out by her desk before positioning herself by the edge of her bed. She opens her laptop, typing into the browser the same website she’s frequented over the past year before she leans back in her bed. She leans back on the bed as she pulls out the mask she dons on every time, before pulling it over her head.  Once the mask is on, Zoey kneels over the edge of her bed as she leans forward, pressing a button on her laptop before leaning back.

The familiar flashing of the countdown begins in front of her and Zoey smiles underneath the mask. It gave her a temporary sense of fulfillment as she watched the stream slowly start in front of her eyes.

Hands at the side of her body as she stays kneeling by the edge of her bed. Before she knew it, the countdown had hit zero and the stream was now live as she saw the blinking red light from her camera that sat right across from her.

Hundreds of comments started pouring in an instant, praising her and telling her how much they loved her. It wasn’t in Zoey’s nature to be narcissistic, really. She just found something about putting on a persona you’ve carefully crafted for the crowd to see, fun. It was like putting on an act as an idol, but with a thinly veiled sense of anonymity the mask had brought her. She knew it was until a matter of time until someone would figure her out, but she hadn’t really thought about it until this fateful night.

“Missed me, berries?”

Just three words and the donations and comments come pouring in again in an instant, covering one another with the speed of the comments. Practiced fingers moved at a choreographed pace, tracing over the strings of her light green bikini.

“I missed you too, berries” Zoey breathes out. Hands cupping her breast, giving them a gentle squeeze as she lefts out a satisfied noise.

Her eyes dart to the comments which were, once again, praising her and telling her the multitude of things they would’ve done if given the chance. Her right hand moving at a pace so agonizingly slow as she traces down her abs, just stopping right above her bikini.

subrosa97: God you’re so fucking hot
user23782: the things I’d do to you

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩370,000
a little treat

Zoey lets out a chuckle that gets covered almost instantly by soft, small mewls as her finger traces over her heat. She leans back as her free hand massages over her breast, her finger tracing over where she needs it most. A little treat? Zoey’s eyes closed in pleasure as the donation runs through her mind.

That was certainly anything but a little treat. But Zoey tries to keep her persona up as she bites back on her tongue. “Thank you, my berry” She winks as she giggles. It’s a username she’s managed to see rarely on her streams but even then despite seeing it four times at the most, it’s left a lasting mark on her memory as she gets bombarded with hundreds of won every donation.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩770,000
let me know if you need more.

Zoey’s eyes widen for a brief moment, caught off-guard by the sudden massive donation dropped in an instant. Admittedly, it was the most she’s received off one donation—hell, it was even enough alone to pay her rent alone for this month. But Zoey reminds herself of the bright red blinking light staring at her from the camera across her. Her composure almost faltering and slipping off the persona she’s careful crafted, but she pulls herself together.

Her fingers moving down with precision as they hold the edges of her bikini. “I will” She replies, winking. She loops them over her bikini, dragging them down at an agonizingly slow pace as she teases the crowd.

Then she pulls it back up and she watches as the comments pour again in an instant, asking her—begging her even—to take it off.

“This?” Zoey asks innocently, hand cupping her breast, giving it a light squeeze. “Or…” She trails off as her free hand trails down her abs again. “This—”

A donation flashes right before her and she feels the color drain out of her face.

golden_huntrx sent ₩25,000
I know who you are

She blinks. The words burning into her skull as she stops in her movements; fingers that stopped just right above her chest, knees on the soft mattress, and lips pressed into a thin line behind the mask. Her composure and demeanor shifting in an instant as the words burn into her skull. Her eye twitches slightly as the donation stays on the screen for a couple of seconds before it gets covered up in an instant. Her loyal fans spam the comment section in an instant, saying how it’s a troll and how they would never out her like that.

And for a brief moment, Zoey manages to compose herself as she carries on with her show. Her fingers move up to her nape, gripping onto the ends of the strings of her bikini.

Then her peace becomes short-lived as another donation gets sent that made Zoey’s blood run cold. The previous one felt like an empty threat—something that anyone could throw out in an instant but behind the comment, it’s nothing but a pure bluff that’s just made to throw you off your guard.

But seeing the next donation flash before her screen, Zoey felt a chill run through her spine. All the thrill she felt streaming just rushing through the first window out.

golden_huntrx sent ₩25,000
Zoey

It read as it stayed on the screen for a couple of seconds as Zoey’s fingers remained on the edges of her strings. Zoey’s eye twitch behind the mask she dons on because she was sure of it no one else would discover about the life she lived outside of work. But she does her best to keep a straight face and cool demeanor.

Her head tilts slightly to the side in amusement. “What an odd assumption” She giggles, despite every bone in her body telling her to do the opposite—to ruin whoever had sent the comment and destroyed her peace. “My berries, I’m sorry about this person”

The comments flood through her screen, telling her that she shouldn’t apologize or how the person should apologize. But undeniably, there were some that had grown curious and the donation left her fans divided with their reactions. Most of them staying by Zoey’s side, showering her with affection. But a handful of them having to side with the donator, telling her how her reveal was a something long-overdue at this rate.

But the fans, along with Zoey, are shut almost instantly when another donation pours in and the text of her name on the screen gets replaced in an instant.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩1,120,000
ignore them.

Zoey feels herself choke with the donation, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets as she sees the amount that’s poured into her wallet so effortlessly. At this rate, Zoey could pay off her rent for two months so effortlessly.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩820,000
end the stream and rest

Zoey feels baffled. She’s seen this familiar username just a handful of times from the start of her streaming career, and they’ve been stretched out thinly in that one year, having only seen it four times. And surprisingly tonight, she’s managed to take out four separate donations off of the user. Intimidation seeps into Zoey as she feels the sudden urge to follow fill her.

Not wanting to disappoint her sudden new top donator, she makes up an excuse to her fans—a flimsy excuse at that, but her fans just take it at face value. After all, they’ve seen the line of message that came from the last donation.

She leans in to turn off the camera, waving at her fans before the red light on top stops blinking. Zoey throws off the mask in an instant as she leans back and lets herself fall onto her mattress. Soft whines come out of her mouth followed by loud grunts as she rolls over in her bed. Confused and angry groans leaving her lips. “Fuck!” Her eyes shut tightly as the donation revealing her name flashes right before her eyes again. It’s the one thing she had hoped and prayed she’d never get to see, not until today.

Chapter Text

“Are you sure it’s fine?”

Zoey just nods at her in response, lips curled up into her warm smile. “It’s fine, Rums” She holds two thumbs up, doing her best to reassure her deskmate about how she felt. “Plus, this was long overdue anyways” She adds, shrugging.

Rumi stays for a moment; eyes fixed on her deskmate as her feet remain frozen by her desk. And when Zoey can sense the hesitation on Rumi’s face, she waves her hand dismissively as she beams up at Rumi.

“Rums, I swear it’s fine”

The purple-haired co-worker nods as she cracks a small smile. “Alright, see you, Zoe!” She makes her way out of the nearly empty office before she stops just right by the second desk away from theirs. She turns around and walks back towards a very focused Zoey, momentarily stopping by the desk behind theirs to think of the right words, before continuing on. “Zoe, I was thinking maybe…”

Her deskmate gets surprised at the noise other from the constant tapping at her keyboard. She stops abruptly as she looks up at Rumi, a smile still plastered on her lips. “Yes, Rums?”

“If you wanted to play that shooter game you found. What was it again?—Hunters something?” Rumi tries to rack her brain as she tries to find the right name to the game that she and Zoey had been mindlessly playing for hours on end over the weekend.

“I’d love to, Rums” Zoey’s smile finally falters as her lips tug downward into a pout. “But I’m kind of busy tonight, tomorrow maybe?” She asks—suggests even—because it was one thing for Rumi to hang-out with her but her to initiate and want to hang-out with her was another thing, it was a rare occurrence, and Zoey hadn’t wanted to push it off completely. Curse her livestream plans for getting in the way.

Rumi smiles in response. “Sure, Zoe. Tomorrow” She throws a thumbs up, already adapting to her deskmate’s mannerism in the short few weeks they’ve started hanging out more often together. She waves at her once more before making her way out to the parking lot where she gets inside her car and drives out.

Her mind stuck on the thought of Zoey’s livestream, because one thing Rumi knew was that “I’m busy tonight” was a Zoey codename for “I’m going to be on live later”. It hadn’t taken Rumi long for her to come to a connection with how Zoey being busy equals Zoey on stream on that sketchy website. It took maybe one to two cancellations of their hang-outs for her to piece it together, especially when she’d have the stream on in another browser as she went about her day.

She pulls into her apartment’s driveway, putting the car into park, before making her way up. She kicks off her shoes by the shoe rack, haphazardly tossing it, not even minding how at this rate it’d be a fire hazard for her. Then again, this was her apartment. So Rumi, after tossing her shoes and trying to shoot her coat onto the coat hanger, walks over to her small kitchen and grabs one of the pre-packaged meals and heats it up in the microwave before she walks over to her bedroom where she boots up her laptop.

It was only Thursday and Rumi already felt tired to her bones, wanting nothing more than to kick her feet up onto the table as she leaned back onto her leather gaming chair—waiting for her game to load so she could spend the rest of the day just locked onto her laptop. But it’s Thursday and that meant she still had one more day of work before she could laze around and possibly fall into hibernation for two whole days.

Ding!

She hurriedly makes her way back into the kitchen, careful not to let the microwave sit on for too long—she’s already almost burnt down the kitchen from the many attempts she’s had at even trying to cook, she didn’t need to also almost burn it down by leaving her microwave. She grabs the meal out and shuts it off.

Soft padded pitter patter of footsteps echo throughout the apartment as Rumi hurriedly makes her way back into the bedroom, meal in hand. She opens her browser and loads in a site, trying to scroll through the selection of movies before leaning back and munching down on her meal. It’s not like Rumi didn’t have the money for a television, because she has—in fact, she has one sitting in her small living room that sat adjacent to her kitchen, which just further gave her all the more reasons to keep her kitchen tidy and far from burning up into flames again—but her legs just absolutely refused to move from her spot. So Rumi just remained in front of her laptop as she munch down on her meal slowly.

Then seconds turns to minutes and minutes turns to hours, and before Rumi even knew it the movie had almost ended. But her attention was held elsewhere as she sees the familiar notification pop up again

❁strawberry_princess❁ is online!

❁strawberry_princess❁
stream starting early tonight! see you, my berries<3

Rumi feels her heart race and her palms become clammy at the thought of Zoey’s live. She’s never really sat inside long enough to actually see her, and Rumi could blame herself for that. Curse all the self-imposed rules she’s made that just curved her into being too much of a goody-goody to even act out based on impulse.

But her fingers betray her as they start typing the familiar website URL into her browser, which came ironic for Rumi because just a couple days ago the website remained unknown to Rumi even then, not even the slightest clue of its content. But here she was now, tapping away at the keyboard as if the website was ingrained into her mind, watching as the letters pop up on screen.

Then the familiar black screen pops up, replacing the sci-fi flick she had been previously watching just a few moments ago—the plot already long forgotten as if it hadn’t been gnawing at her as she toiled away at work earlier.

The familiar loading icon spinning smack dab in the middle of the black screen as she patiently waited for Zoey. It felt weird to Rumi, having known that this was her. Clearly it was her, all the signs had clearly pointed all towards her that at this point Rumi thinks it’s glowing bright red and yellow neon sighs that all had arrows pointed at her deskmate with the words ‘it’s her!’ on them.

But indifference remained in Rumi’s mind as she stares at the black screen. A weird feeling and sense of self-righteousness filled her, and she knew better than the next guy than to watch the stream in its entirety. The last couple times she had even watched them weren’t for the purpose of pure entertainment but rather for her to confirm her suspicions and doubts on her deskmate.

But she really wasn’t any better than the next guy as she stayed in the stream’s loading page rather than clicking off and just going about the rest of her day. What better was she than the guys that tuned into her stream, praising her and showering her with affection in hopes that she’d notice them and tell them how much she adored them.

The screen glows a bright green color in contrast to the previous streams which were held in dark lighting of the same background. And Rumi can see it clearly now with how she had just been previously in her bedroom just a week ago—her mind remembering the events that occurred in her bedroom, the words that Zoey had imparted on her that left a lasting memory on her. Up to this day, Rumi hadn’t had the slightest clue of what her deskmate had meant. Had she known she’d been watching her?

Zoey does her routine of greeting her fans, asking them the same question she does every time. “Missed me, berries?”

The comments instantly pour in, hundreds of users telling her how much they had missed her. One user going an extra mile to tell her how much she had been running through their mind all day long that they couldn’t stop thinking about her.

She can see Zoey’s smile from the way her eyes turn into tiny crescents—it’s a familiar view she sees every time the turtle-obsessed deskmate of hers gets to eat her favorite sweet treat during lunch.

“I missed you too, berries” Zoey’s voice ragged. Her words coming out like a breath of air. Her skilled fingers hovering over her breast gently before cupping them completely. A satisfied noise leaving her lips as she arches her back slightly.

It was a known fact how Rumi’s apartment was always cold and breezy with how the AC gets blasted almost in an instant when she steps foot inside it. There had never been a moment where the temperature dropped to a point that made Rumi exhaust even just a drop of sweat. It was always the perfect temperature or even colder than that. But right now, as she sat in her leather gaming chair with the stream playing in front of her, she felt herself slowly become hot as the seconds passed by. Fingers trembling as it held onto the mouse, eyes glued desperately on the screen, and mouth slowly agape.

It had been the first time she had actually watched her do something rather than have her eyes wander all over the screen, trying to figure out the connections that’ll lead her straight to Zoey. She tries to type up a comment, but a pop-up shows up on her screen almost immediately as soon as her finger taps the mouse.

Oops! Looks like you’re trying to make a comment without an account. Make an account?

Her eyes dart between the glaringly large glowing buttons below the pop-up, and Rumi has to think fast with making the choice between committing to her act enough to make an account or just forgetting about it and tossing it to the side.

But she’s already made it this far enough that it felt like a waste to just ignore the pop-up as well as the stream then just leaving altogether and pray that this’ll be a distant memory for her everytime she’d sit across her deskmate.

So she moves the cursor to the glowing green button that meant having to actually commit enough to make something that would mark her existence of the website. She bites down on her bottom lip, mind still debating the choice for a brief second as she feels her conscience catch up to her. Then she closes her eyes as she presses down onto her mouse’s button.

A small notification noise echoes throughout her bedroom briefly, forcing Rumi to open her eyes.

Congratulations! You’ve made an account. Fill in your details below to make your account official. Hope you have fun watching!

The last line haunted Rumi as she stared at the message. It was a streaming website designed for content that were well…geared towards an older audience, and the message just felt as if it was taunting her. But she shakes away the thought as she fills up the blank spaces up until she gets to the username portion by the last part.

She blinks. She hadn’t really thought it through, and she knows she could just mash a couple keyboard buttons and call it a day—it never really mattered anyways, it’s not like Zoey would purposely go out of her way to try to pinpoint and identify who she was. But Rumi had already gone this far so as to even make an account, why not just go all out and have fun?

So she racks her brain for fun and witty things to write on her username (as if this wasn’t for a site that was strictly for adult streaming). Then her mind lands onto the game she’d been playing with Zoey for the past few days,

purple_huntrs. Rumi types up before erasing it almost instantly. It felt too close to her current username on her gaming website and she knows it’s a long shot for her to get identified by Zoey through their gaming sessions, but Rumi had just wanted to make sure any trace of evidence gets thrown away so perfectly that Zoey wouldn’t have the slightest idea.

Golden? Yeah that seems right. It has a nice ring to it and it’s unassuming—Zoey wouldn’t even bat an eye and think that it’s her purple-haired deskmate. Rumi types it up and as she types it up, her finger slips and she manages to type up golden_huntrx instead. A short stream of curses leaves her lips but she ignores it.

It’s not like the username had any other value other from being a cosmetic for the website for her to be identified from the hundreds of users that swarmed to Zoey’s stream to watch her.

As she finishes up with the sign-up page, she’s brought back to the stream where she sees a donation plastered by the top right of the screen.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩770,000
let me know if you need more.

Rumi’s eyes widen. Such a huge amount just tossed aside like nothing. But of course, it wasn’t unfamiliar to her—she had the same amount of money just hidden in the bank account handed to her by her mothers that she had absolutely refused to hold or even touch. She swallows thickly as her eyes dart back and forth between Zoey and the donation message that remained floating by the corner.

It wasn’t like there was any harm in pulling something off like a little donation, right? Plus it wasn’t like Zoey wasn’t benefiting from it—that’s if this was Zoey, and Rumi was sure that it surely wasn’t her deskmate. If it was then it was just a tiny harmless prank, and if it wasn’t then it was just an honest mistake and she can finally go about her life knowing that her she had been doubting her deskmate all this time and perhaps owed her an apology despite her said deskmate having absolutely no idea of the thoughts Rumi had.

Zoey’s in the middle of her act, fingers trailing down her abdomen as she puts on a show for the crowd. The message flashes and she sees the abrupt halt of her movements.

golden_huntrx sent ₩25,000
I know who you are

Fuck. Rumi thinks as she watches the message hopelessly pop up in the screen. She meant to send it all in one go, but her finger slipped again. It really was shaping up to not be Rumi’s day today. She types up another response as she watches the woman’s reaction to her donation, it wasn’t anything grand that had Rumi connecting the dots instantly that it was indeed Zoey.

She inhales deeply, exhaling as she feels her body loosen up, before she hits send and the donation message pops up almost immediately. It was definitely going to burn a small hole in her wallet especially with how she had been saving up for a new laptop, but it was all going to be worth it when she sees the reaction plastered all over the streamer’s face, or at least what she can make out of it from the eyeholes.

golden_huntrx sent ₩25,000
Zoey

The streamer’s eye twitch for a brief moment and it was the undeniable evidence that Rumi had wanted for her to finally put it to rest with how she managed to confirm her identity. But her method felt unnerving. The consequences of her action almost slapping her in an instant as she wants to retract her statement, seeing how the comments poured. Most of them had been in support of Zoey, but there were still a handful that had made Rumi’s blood run cold as she watches them go on to demand a reveal with how long overdue it had been.

Rumi, what have you done? She lets out a loud groan as she throws her head back. She finally got what she wanted at the cost of her deskmate suffering. But the comments get shut in an instant when two donations pour in after hers.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩1,120,000
ignore them.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩820,000
end the stream and rest

Rumi blinked as she stared at the amount poured into the stream in an instant. Curiosity getting the best of her as she quickly writes down the username on a piece of paper on her desk—a race against the clock as she sees Zoey lean into the camera, waving before the stream ends.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Rumi hadn’t exactly slept a wink that night. Her mind racing as she thought about the stunt she had just pulled on her deskmate. It put her on ease as she manages to finally confirm her deskmate’s double life, but at what cost?—at the cost of her identity being put out in the open?

A long sigh leaving her lips as she trudges onto her desk, sneakers squeaking slightly in her wake in the quiet office. She stops just right by the desk behind theirs, taking in a deep breath, before walking towards her side of the desk. A bright smile on her lips as she greets Zoey.

And to her surprise, Zoey looks up at her with the same energy as she greets Rumi.

“How was your night?” Rumi asks as she sits down on her chair, resisting the strong urge to grimace as her mind recalls the events that unfolded last night.

“Terrible” Zoey pouts as she leans into the table. “I had trouble sleeping too”

Rumi presses her lips into a thin line as she nods. It seemed like her habit of speaking before a thought would even form, hadn’t exactly gone away. “I’ll treat you to ice cream later after work”

Zoey looks taken aback but her pout disappeared almost in an instant as she flashes Rumi one of her smiles that had just radiated warmth. “Really, Rums?” She excitedly ask.

Rumi swallows as she nods, her lips curling up into a half-smile. After all, it was the least she could do for ruining Zoey’s peace.

The time comes almost quickly and the two co-workers make their way to the parking lot where Rumi drives them to the park near her house, the same park she frequents to when she feels lost. She tells Zoey about the ice cream stall near it that just absolutely cured any ill feeling she had been harboring.

“Mhm, you’re right” Zoey says as she licks up the sorbet that’s slowly melting by the side of the cone.

“Yeah?”

They’re sitting on a park bench, admiring the view the park offered them as kids and dogs ran amok. Giggles and laughter filled the area, adding to the light and vibrant atmosphere the park exuded.

“This does make you forget about any bad feelings” She replies. A giggle escaping her lips almost instantly as she laps up the melted part of her ice cream.

A pink tint creeps up to Rumi’s cheeks as she nods. “I’m glad you’re feeling better now”

“Of course” Zoey looks at her; smile plastered on her lips and eyes turning to crescents. “I’m with you”

Rumi clears her throat as she ducks her head, her face now a slightly reddish color as she feels herself get embarrassed. “I’m glad” She manages to get out as she composes herself—the pink tint still not leaving as she looks up to meet Zoey’s gaze.

“S-stop looking at me” Rumi chuckles as she feels herself get shy under her gaze.

But Zoey just smiles back in response. “I can’t help it” The ice cream in her hand now forgotten as she looks up into Rumi’s brown orbs.

“Rums” Zoey says so quietly that Rumi has to stop paying attention to the melting sorbet in her hands. Her eyes now fixated on the raven-haired woman that sat beside her. “Have you ever gone out?”

“Like, with someone?”

“Yeah” Zoey nods.

“I mean we’re out right now, aren’t we?”

A pink tint creeps up on Zoey’s cheeks as she shakes her head. “N-no” She clears her throat. “Like romantically”

“O-oh” An awkward chuckle leaving her lips as she scratches her nape with her free hand. “Yes? But that was a long time ago”

Zoey nods as she turns her attention back to the park in front of them. Silence fills the spaces between them for a while with the only noise being giggles from the kids that ran across the grassy areas of the park.

“Would you maybe…” There’s a short pause as Zoey looks down on her lap, her free hand fidgeting with the fabric of her skirt. “Want to go out with me?”

Then suddenly all the guilt comes rushing through and hitting Rumi like a freight train as the events of last night come rushing back, not wanting to be forgotten as she hears the honest confession of her deskmate.

Chapter Text

If you’d ask Rumi how she saw the rest of her year go, then she’d give you an answer of how it’d most likely go by her routine for the rest of the months. Because that’s how Rumi loved to live her life, going by the same routine she’s stuck to ever since she’s moved out of her parents’ place and live for herself. And Rumi had no problem with that at all. In fact, she had pride herself in having a routine she followed down to a T every single day without skipping a beat—maybe on some days she’d add something that’d throw her routine off in the mix, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Which was why the next words that Rumi had uttered had surprised both her and the turtle-obsessed woman sitting in front of her.

“Yes?” Zoey repeats, eyes twinkling in response. To say Zoey was surprised was an understatement, she hadn’t really expected her deskmate to say yes or to even entertain the idea of going out with her. But had that been the case then it would’ve made things between them awkward, really awkward. The computer screens in front of them barely provided a barrier between them so an interaction between them throughout the day was inevitable.

Painted lips curl upward into a smile as Rumi nods. Only had she remembered about the melting sorbet in her hand when she starts feeling the cold feel of the ice cream drip onto her fingers. “O-oh” She quickly laps up at the ice cream, flashing Zoey an awkward smile right after. Zoey just giggles in response.

And that was how it started for Rumi’s routine to get derailed and thrown off the tracks just like that. Suddenly the routine she had carefully built and meticulously put together had started crumbling down and with the help of Zoey, a new routine had been formed.

It started off small with Rumi waiting on Zoey to finish packing her stuff so they’d walk out together, then it escalated to her driving Zoey home every time after work. Then one thing led to another and suddenly their nightly hangouts become a lot more frequent. Sometimes it’d be them playing a game, and sometimes it’d be just them on a call as they talked about anything that came to mind.

“Y’know there’s a new movie”

Rumi stops in her movements, eyes that were once glued to the screen now peers behind it as she looks for the familiar space buns behind the other screen. “Yes?” Her head tilted slightly so she gets to see her deskmate’s face.

“Like” Zoey scoots over to the side, swiveling slightly in her chair. “It’s about this girl that gets into this love triangle”

Rumi rests her elbow onto the desk, her cheek pressed up against her palm as she continues listening to her deskmate ramble on. “Thought you weren’t into romcom flicks” She teases.

“I’m not!” Zoey giggles, her eyes darting around the office when she realizes her voice gets raised slightly, and when she notices everyone’s too busy cooped up in their work to even notice the two co-workers tucked by the corner raving on about a movie, she continues by adding, “it’s not a romcom”

“It’s not?” Rumi asks, her lips curled up into a lazy smile as she cheek remains pressed up against her palm.

“No” Zoey shakes her head. “So it feels like a love story, right? But then it hits you with the horror aspect and suddenly boom it’s no longer a romcom and now it’s just a horror story where the three of them try to survive”

Rumi watches in admiration as she sees Zoey go on and on about the story, her hands doing subtle gestures as her eyes twinkle with fascination for a flick that Rumi hadn’t even had the slightest clue or idea about.

“We should go watch it tomorrow”

Zoey stops in her rambles as she looks at Rumi, beaming up at her as she’s almost jumping on her seat. “Really? You don’t mind like going out on a Saturday?”

“With you? No” Rumi grins. She hadn’t exactly known when but somehow as the days passed ever since she’s said yes to her deskmate’s question, she’d gotten a bit bolder with her moves, not that her deskmate seemed to mind, often joking about where Rumi had went and what had she done to her.

Zoey giggles as her cheeks flare up into a bright red color. “Cool” Her giggles becoming a soft melodic tune that Rumi loved to hear. “So tomorrow, 3?”

“Yeah I’ll pick you up” She winks as she sits upright, eyes still trained and focused on Zoey.

Then just when she’s about to come up with another punch line or another witty remark to hit on her, she gets interrupted when stacks of paper are dropped onto the desk in front of her. Stacks on stacks of paper that her vision of her deskmate gets blocked and all she can make out now is the familiar space buns of Zoey’s hair that she loves to sport.

Rumi heaves out a sigh as she swivels in her desk chair, ready to face whoever dropped the stacks of paperwork in front of her.

“Jinu” Her voice tired and flat as she faces her team leader. Her eyes sending daggers to the raven-haired man standing in front of her. It’s not like the hate came unwarranted—he was a man notoriously known for handing out work towards the rest of their team, unequally dividing the work between them with the rest of them, especially Rumi, getting the shorter end of the stick. “Here to feed me again to the shark?” A heavy sigh leaving her lips again.

Jinu smiles at her, one of his famous pitiful smiles as his eyebrows knit together. “I’m sorry” He pouts.

You’re not really, are you? Rumi wants to say but instead she just bites back on her tongue as she nods, grabbing the stack of paperwork in front of her. It’s so thick that when she takes a hold of it and pushes it off the desk and onto her lap, her restricted view of Zoey gets replaced with a full view of her face. The latter had been looking at her with a pitiful face as well, but unlike Jinu, it’s filed with sincerity and genuineness.

“Good luck” Zoey mouths out, her lips still in a form of a grimace as she watches her deskmate get up.

“Anything else you want to hand or say to the HR?” Rumi’s voice a bit more irritated than usual, annoyance visible in her voice.

“Oh the papers from last week haven’t been signed yet. Can you tell her to have them signed and send it to me? Thanks” He flashes her one of his infamous smiles, throwing a thumbs up at her before waltzing away.

Rumi feels her eye twitch as she watches their team leader retreat into his office by the other corner of the room. But she just closes her eyes, pressing them tightly together as she inhales a sharp breath, before opening them again and making her way to the elevator.

And for once, Rumi’s actually thankful the elevator doors open in almost an instant. The last thing she needed was to wait for an eternity for the elevators to reach one of the top floors whilst holding a large stack of papers.

Her feet dragging her through the familiar path to the office by the far end of the floor. Squeaks filled the practically empty floor as Rumi languidly made her way to the office. Despite her routine being torn to shreds and thrown apart by Zoey, she hadn’t actually ever gotten used to having this be part of her routine. But she may as well be since it seemed like Jinu’s sick way of tormenting Rumi came with forcing her to make the trip up and face the one person everyone in the office seemed to either despise or be deathly terrified of.

“You’re here again” The assistant points out, her voice portraying shock rather than annoyance. Eyes wide as she examines the papers in the employee’s arms.

“Unfortunately” Rumi answers as she momentarily stops by her desk. “Is she in?”

“Yes” She replies as she gets up and opens the door for her.

Rumi mutters a small ‘thank you’ before she walks inside, not disregarding the whisper that she hears when she walks past the assistant. “Good luck”

It had only been Rumi’s second time at her office, save for the only other time where she had been her for a brief second to bring her her spare glasses. But since then, it had only been two separate occasions where Rumi had to bring up the papers from their floor and in those two occasions, she gets hit with the same words by the assistant everytime she walks past her. Had their HR really been that terrifying?

Rumi just shook away the thought as she slowly makes her way to the dividers, hoping it’d be a quick trip into her office. Just drop the papers onto her desk and then go back down and finish work until 5. She thinks as she’s nearing the dividers.

But the noise on the other end of the divider is effective in having Rumi halt in her steps. It seemed like an argument ensuing and Rumi knows it’s the worst time to get caught in. She could just make the trip back down and come back at a better time, after all, it was only 3 in the afternoon.

She’s quick on her heels as she turns around and starts practically bolting back to the door that lead to the safe place of their office—anywhere but inside her office. And Rumi’s finally sensing now why she had been wished good luck, perhaps she needed it after all. But of course, things never really went Rumi’s way the way she wanted them to.

A loud squeak echoes throughout the small office, and Rumi just knows she’s doomed for. Her eyes shut tightly as she heard her sneakers colliding with the freshly mopped marble floors of Mira’s office, standing hopelessly as she hears it emit a loud squeak.

The argument on the other end of the divider stops and instead, there’s clacking of heels that stop just right by the divider.

“Come inside.” Voice sharp and portraying authority so well with just two simple words that Rumi turns around—no, she felt compelled to.

It’s like her legs had other thoughts while all that was in her mind was just wanting to turn back around and start booking it out of there at the speed of light like some cartoon character. An awkward smile forming on her lips as she holds the stack of papers in her arms tightly, sweat profusely forming on her forehead despite the whole office being cold—as cold as a vampire’s den, because she may as very well be one.

Her eyes staring into Rumi’s, and if looks could burn then Rumi would’ve been incinerated that nothing would be left in her wake.

Rumi swallows the lump in her throat as she walks towards the divider, watching as the HR officer pushes herself off the wall of the divider. Her eyes staring into Rumi’s one last time before gingerly making her way back to her desk.

And Rumi, now that she’s past the divider, realizes the noise she’d been hearing had been coming directly from Mira’s computer and not from actual people being in the office. The noise now a bit deafened and toned down.

“Sit”

Rumi’s behind instantly finding the seat as she falls back down, taking temporary residence on one of two chairs Mira had set up in front of her desk. It felt dehumanizing having being treated like a dog—one word and suddenly Rumi knows how to bark and follow orders as if she were a mutt.

The weight of the stack of papers in her arms practically becoming nonexistent as she holds onto it dearly.

And just when she thought she hadn’t reached a new low, she watches as Mira drags her finger, eyes trained on the fingernails painted red. Her finger pointing straight down onto her desk, on the empty spot that’s right in front of Rumi.

No words were exchanged but Rumi knew what she had meant. She followed her HR’s lead as she places the papers down by the empty space on the desk. If being told one word and having her follow it almost instantly was dehumanizing, now this felt a lot worse than that. How was it that Mira had held and exuded power so effortlessly that anything she did felt scary. She understood now why the office held its silence whenever she’s inside or whenever she’d even walk past it.

Rumi, now with her arms free, fiddles with her fingers as her eyes dart to her lap. She had no idea why she had even stayed. She had dropped the papers, now she was free to leave. So she takes a few seconds to herself to muster up the courage to ask her boss a seemingly normal question of ‘can I leave and return back to the office?’, but she feels her throat become parched and dry and suddenly it’s like she’s in kindergarten again trying to muster up the courage to ask her teacher if she can go potty. Well, it definitely felt like that—Mira, from all angles, was terrifying, especially when you’d be sitting in front of her, subject to her intense gaze.

Rumi closes her eyes for a brief moment before looking up and finally having the courage to open up to Mira. But the pink-haired woman instead holds her finger up. Again, no words were exchanged and yet it felt like Rumi was a well-trained dog obeying her master.

“In a meeting” Her voice surprisingly holding softness yet somehow holding command at the same time. “Just a moment”

Rumi nods in response as she shifts back into her seat, fingers fiddling with each other as her eyes dart everywhere but on her. Rumi doesn’t know why but it felt intimidating to even have your eyes dart to her even just for a brief second. She’s not medusa, y’know. She thinks, but her eyes thinks otherwise as they continue to roam the small office’s interior, watching the plaques and certifications hung on the wall in celebration of the HR. Things were a lot better when she hadn’t had the slightest clue who Mira was, then she could’ve lived a life of pure obliviousness to their boss, freely interacting with her as if she wasn’t the most terrifying person in their company.

The volume had been toned down now with Rumi’s presence, but she can hear it faintly in the background. She can’t make out the words to what the other person’s been saying, but she can clearly hear the angry exchange happening on the other end of the meeting.

Rumi feels like her soul had left her body the moment her eyes finally land back on Mira. The redhead had been staring right back at her, sharp eyes boring into Rumi’s brown orbs. Mira’s not doing or saying anything and instead is just staring at her. But she feels like her voice had been stripped out of her throat as she feels her gaze burning into her soul.

Rumi doesn’t know how long it was until angry noises on the other end of the call subside and then suddenly the office went silent, but she was glad it did. It was only then that Mira pries her eyes away from the purple-haired girl in front of her and back to the screen by the side of her desk. She taps away at her keyboard for a few seconds before turning back to Rumi.

“What’s this?” Mira asks, her voice definitely softer than the last time she spoke up. Her fingers dragging along the side of the paper before she picks it up, holding it close to her face.

“The reports for this week” Rumi replies instantly as if she’s a private being asked by her commander to report back to her.

Mira hums intelligently as she sets the paper back down on the stacks. “Okay” She replies, her gaze fixed again on Rumi.

“Anything else, Miss Ryu?”

“N-nope—I mean, nothing, Miss Jeong” She silently curses herself for letting her words casually slip. “I’ll get going now”

Mira doesn’t reply and instead just subtly nods. She leans in closer on her desk, hands clasped together and resting on top of her desk.

Rumi gets up and bows, eyes meeting Mira’s for a brief second as she gets up. She quickly turns on her heels and starts quickening in her pace as she walks out of the office. She hears the assistant say something as she leaves the doors to Mira’s office but Rumi doesn’t look back and instead walks straight of the elevator.

She doesn’t dare look back until the elevator doors finally close, as if there’s some superstition behind it that if she catches a glimpse of what’s behind her before the doors finally close on her, then she’d see Mira in front of her. A chill runs through Rumi’s spine as the though runs through her mind.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“How was the walk up?” Zoey asks as they walk out the office side by side. It was four past five in the afternoon which meant that it was time for them to go home.

Rumi shudders at the memory of the past hour replaying in her mind. “Terrible. She’s terrifying”

Zoey giggles in response, hand slapping Rumi’s arm as it stays there. “Yeah, she is scary” Her hand now softly grabbing Rumi’s arm as they both make their way into the parking lot.

“I knooow” Rumi drawls out, walking over to the passenger side. “Like I swear she has this voice that’s so intimidating” She opens the passenger side door for her deskmate.

“Right!” Zoey happily agrees as she makes her way inside. “It’s kind of hot though”

Rumi feels flustered but she shakes her head as she closes the door and jogs over to the driver side and gets inside. “You find it hot?” Rumi asks as she starts the car, eyebrow raised as she faces Zoey.

“Well” Zoey’s voice now in a higher pitch than usual and Rumi knows what that’s code for, it’s code for, “yes, but I’m too embarrassed to admit it” which is something she learned over those times where they’d have their nightly calls.

“It’s alright, Zoe” Rumi teases.

“H-hey it’s not like I have the hots for her” She pouts, crossing her arms.

“And I’m saying if you would, I wouldn’t judge you” She winks at the short girl in her passenger side. “She is scary, but also hot. Kind of like scary hot” She says, following it by chuckling right after. They pull out of the half-empty parking lot and into the highway.

Zoey laughs with her as she lightly smacks Rumi’s arm. “You’re right, but I can’t be crushing on you both—that’s like twenty-seven HR violations right there!” She jokes, fits of giggles erupting after.

Chapter Text

Rumi stood in front of her mirror. She never really was one to stare into her reflection for so long, often just taking up a minute at most or even just mere seconds before she bolted out of her room and left her apartment in a hurry for work. But here she was now, standing in front of it as she stared herself down. It’s not like being narcissistic and egotistical enough to stare and eye yourself down was something Rumi was looking forward to adding to her new routine.

In fact, it was the opposite. She had just been too concerned about the way she dressed—especially since she always dressed so freely—that she just had to take a moment to look really look at her outfit and maybe come to choose a better one than the plain shirt and jeans she just loved to sport so often that it had become her uniform at this point.

She switches between the hanger in her left hand and the one in her right, trying to gauge which was a better fit for her outfit.

“This one feels too flashy” She tosses the hanger with the crop top to the side of her bed, watching as it slides down in her peripheral vision. And Rumi could go and grab it, maybe put it down properly on her bed along with the small pile of clothes she’s unearthed from the back of her cabinet—she hadn’t even been aware of those clothes until earlier this day—but she’s too busy trying to think of a better outfit, and the clock was ticking. It was ten past two in the afternoon and she had to leave in a bit if she wanted to arrive early by Zoey’s apartment. The last thing she needed was to arrive late on their first official date.

She holds up the remaining hanged clothing in her hands and decides oh what the fuck. It’s another crop top but this one hugged her body tightly and it’s not Rumi was a stranger to tight clothing, in fact she actually had absolutely adored having the feel of it which had explained why she had multiple of the same design in her cabinet, but she had actually wondered and perhaps even been worried about Zoey’s reaction.

But time was not on her side and she can blame herself for her lack of time management coupled with her indecisiveness that had costed her hours to even get ready. Make-up took maybe an hour at the most, but dressing up took her a couple as she shifted and combed through her entire cabinet, searching at places she haven’t even discovered until today.

Rumi does a once-over at the full-view mirror in her bedroom. Her outfit consisting of the a new pair of jeans other from the office ones she wore every single day to work, seeing how they barely look rugged and worn-out it was clear that these were definitely a different pair. Then to put it all together, she put on a light teal crop top with tiny turtle designs. Rumi felt shy and stupid as she stared at herself down. She hadn’t even remembered the shirt lying in the deepest realms of the back of her cabinet until today, but boy was she so happy she had bought it on a whim when she had visited an aquarium a little over a year ago, the small turtle prints all over the shirt felt like a cherry on top and she was now ready. Well it had only taken her about four hours and a couple of full outfit makeovers before she finally decides and settles on her current outfit.

She grabs hurries out her bedroom, car keys and phone in hand, only stopping by the door to grab a jacket by the coat hanger and put on shoes by the shoe rack before she hastily makes her way out of the apartment.

Hands gripping the steering wheel as she pulls out of her apartment’s driveway and makes her way into the highway just right out. Eyes darting between the road ahead and the dashboard by her side. The screen displaying 2:22 brightly on her dashboard.

It’s not too late yet. Rumi thinks as she pulls up into the familiar road that lead to a certain person’s apartment driveway. Usually, from Rumi’s apartment to Zoey’s apartment or their office it’d take her maybe ten minutes at the most, now add in traffic then that’d be another five minutes on top. But take away the traffic and add in the fact that there’s a drop-dead gorgeous girl waiting for her by driveway of their lavish apartment building’s foot then that time gets sliced in half twice.

Rumi’s heart is practically thumping out of her chest as she pulls up by Zoey’s apartment building. Her eyes flicker back to the screen and the numbers 2:28 flash brightly on the screen that she has to take a few seconds to even compose herself. She had been lucky there hadn’t been any cars on the highway except for maybe two others, but none of them had been speeding like her as if her life depended heavily on it.

She fishes out her phone from the back of her pocket and starts typing the familiar number of her deskmate.

Two rings in and it gets picked up instantly.

“Hey, Zoe” Rumi breathes out. It leaves her mouth shallow and ragged instead than her typical deep and charming tone.

“Hey, Rums!” Zoey chirps back on the other end of the line. “You sound out of breath” She can practically feel the pout on Zoey’s lips despite her absence.

“Yeah—don’t worry about it” Her erratic breathing slowly coming to an end as she manages to compose herself. “I’m here at the driveway”

Zoey squeals on the other end of the call. It’s a bit high pitched that Rumi has to move back her phone a bit, but her lips are tugged up into a smile, nonetheless. She grabs the small bouquet of flowers at her backseat and slightly arranges them in order. She was glad she had stopped by the flower shop yesterday rather than leaving it to today’s Rumi to grab it.

Skilled and practiced fingers move the flowers and rearrange them with ease as if it was second nature to her. But really, she had just been worried to offer the day-old bouquet to Zoey even if it hadn’t looked wilted in the slightest. It’d been a while since she had even gone out or done anything remotely romantic and she didn’t want to mess it up, not especially since it was with Zoey this time.

Because if Rumi had to be true to what she felt and admitted things outright then she’d admit that the teensy crush she had on Zoey had grown slightly ever since she had started hanging out with her deskmate a little more often than they would’ve before Zoey’s confession.

Rumi gets out of the car and makes her way to the passenger side of the car, bouquet in hand. She’s just in time for Zoey to exit the building. The short girl’s eyes twinkle as she sees Rumi. She lets out a squeal as she rushes up to her date, instantly wrapping her arms around the purple-haired girl in front of her.

“Oh I’m so excited” Zoey mutters as she pulls away from the embrace.

“Me too, Zoe” Rumi shyly admits, holding up the slightly squished bouquet out of her to take.

“Oh!” Another squeal, and frankly Rumi hadn’t minded at all. She loved hearing Zoey and her little burst of joy reactions that she’d emit every once in a while. “Is this for me?” Her big doe-like eyes looking up to meet Rumi’s.

Rumi nods, cheeks slightly burning up under Zoey’s gaze. “Y-yeah, hope you like it” She scratches the back of her nape. God, Rumi felt like an absolute loser.

“Rums, I looove it!” She wraps her arms around Rumi’s neck as she pulls her in for another embrace, the bouquet now carefully set aside to avoid getting squished even more. “This is beautiful” She says as she pulls away, admiring the set of flowers in her hands.

“Just like you” Rumi tries her best to casually say but it comes off awkward and she silently curses herself for it. She had tried to come and play it off as casual but instead, she looked like the absolute mess between her and Zoey.

But thankfully, Zoey just finds it adorable as she pinches Rumi’s cheek, giggling. “You’re so sweet, Rums”

Rumi just chuckles in response, her face already heating up and slowly becoming as red as a tomato. She steps to the side and opens the passenger door for her date.

“Thank you” Zoey winks and blows a kiss at Rumi before stepping inside and getting herself comfortable in Rumi’s passenger seat.

The purple-haired woman wastes no time jogging over to the other side of the car and getting inside the driver’s seat. She slings the seatbelt over her body before starting the car again.

“So where do you wanna watch the movie?” Rumi asks as she pulls into the highway.

“I was thinking about that mall over at downtown”

“Okay” Rumi flashes a smile at her before following the route that led to that mall.  

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Rumi was a firm believer of treating people the way you wanted to be treated, and normally it goes her way when the exchange merits her to receive the same exact treatment she offers to that person. But never had she expected that despite treating Zoey like the princess she is—going all out to treat her better than all those guys drooling over her would—that she’d receive the exact treatment from Zoey, only then it was a lot more than what she’d give Zoey.

She felt pampered and adored by Zoey, even if it was the little things. The way Zoey would hold her hand and offer—no, demand to pay for things rather than have Rumi even touch or grab a hold of her wallet. To say Rumi was embarrassed was an understatement.

“Zoe, I asked you out to the movies, at least let me pay for that” She asks her date, this time with a bit more determination than the last few times when they’ve paid for things in the short time they’ve spent strolling in the mall.

Zoey taps her chin for a bit, as if insinuating she’s deep in thought. And before Zoey could open her mouth, Rumi adds, “If you let me do that then I’ll let you have your way for the rest of the date”

Now when Rumi had said those words, she hadn’t really given it much thought. It felt like a harmless offer—basically in exchange for allowing her to be able to pay for the tickets to the movie, Zoey would get to do whatever she wanted for the rest of their date, that included paying for whatever she wanted to get Rumi. But little had Rumi know, there was a much more mischievous plan brewing at the back of Zoey’s mind as she hears those words leave the purple-haired woman’s lips.

“Anything?” Zoey asks innocently, left hand holding Rumi’s soft hand while her right already holding a couple bills.

“Yes” Rumi replies embarrassed. She felt like Zoey had been doting on her the entire date—not that Zoey hadn’t minded at all because she just loved to get Rumi whatever the purple-haired woman wanted—that the most she’s ever done for their date so far was to hold all of the bags Zoey had bought.

“Okay” Zoey replies, giggling. “I’ll get the pop—”

“No!” Rumi interjects, startling both the clerk behind the ticketing booth and Zoey. “S-sorry” She sheepishly says. “I’ll get you popcorn and whatever else you want to eat”

Zoey doesn’t even protest as she lets Rumi do as she pleases. After all, she had already made a deal—let Rumi pay for their movie date then she’d have her way for the rest of their date.

The clerk hands them two tickets as she thanks them for their purchase. Rumi grabs them with her free hand—or at least it’s the hand that’s not holding Zoey’s—and walks over to the food stalls with Zoey.

They order a bucket of popcorn and some drinks before making their way inside the movie area. The bags of purchases proving it to be a hard task to walk through the line of seats, but thankfully, it’s an empty cinema except maybe for the other couple by the far-end of the cinema doing god knows what and the couple of moviegoers scattered around the cinema.

Eventually, after a minute of struggling, Rumi manages to squeeze past the seats until they make it over to the far end of the row with Rumi sitting against the wall. The purple-haired girl had insisted she sit by the side instead, ensuring Zoey’s safety. But Zoey thought otherwise and had wanted Rumi to sit by the side, reminding her of their newly made deal where Zoey would have her way for the rest of the date. So Rumi breathes out a resigned sigh as she lets her date go about her way, letting her do as she pleases.

She sits down on the seat right next to the wall, placing down the paper bags by their feet. Zoey takes the seat right next to her, offering the bucket of popcorn to her date. Rumi gladly grabs hold of it. “Here, I’ll hold it for you” She says when she notices Zoey struggling slightly.

“Thanks, Rums” Zoey replies, blushing. She leans up against Rumi, resting against her shoulder as her gaze shifts onto the big screen in front of them.

The lights start to dim as the movie starts rolling in front of them after a while. Rumi slings her arm around Zoey, right hand holding her shoulder as her left held onto the bucket. She’d often offer the bucket up to her date, while her eyes remained glued onto the big screen in front of them.

The movie’s pace starts off slow, and it’s exactly like Zoey had explained to her during work where it felt like a romcom but there had been a twist awaiting them in the later acts.

Somewhere along the lines of the movie, along the end of the intro, Zoey scoots closer to Rumi in hopes that it’d alleviate the cold she’s starting to feel. So much for putting on a cute outfit. Zoey thinks.

Rumi immediately notices the subtle shift in Zoey’s mood, her attention now divided between the screen playing the movie she had been desperately raving about, and the bucket of popcorn that provided a little bit of heat to ease her.

“Are you cold?” Rumi whispers as she scoots closer to Zoey. Her hot breath on Zoey’s ears sending a tingling sensation to the younger woman.

“Y-yeah” She sheepishly admits.

Rumi wastes no time putting the bucket in between her thighs for the meantime as she softly pushes Zoey to the side as she slips off her jacket with ease. She holds it up to Zoey, muttering, “Here, Zoe”

Zoey feels her face heat up at the offering, but she takes hold of it, thanking Rumi. She slips Rumi’s jacket around her with ease as she sinks back in her seat and previous position. As if in silent agreement, Rumi takes the bucket up into her arms again as she scoots closer to Zoey, slinging her arm back around her as they continue on watching the film playing in front of them.

“This is pretty cool” Rumi mutters as they watch the movie shift into the horror genre that Zoey’s been raving about. She’d have to give her props for choosing the best films to watch, especially for their first date. There certainly wasn’t a dull moment whenever she was around her deskmate.

Zoey just hums in response, scooting impossibly closer to Rumi. Her head resting and laying against Rumi’s shoulder.

Eventually, it gets too much for Rumi to hold the bucket all while trying to hold Zoey, so she offers up the bucket again but to no avail. Her date just mutters a thank you, saying how she had enough popcorn for now. Rumi nods and sets down the popcorn in between her thighs again as her attention is set on the movie playing in front of them.

Then, when the audience least expects it, a scream bellows from the large screen in front of them. Rumi instinctively scoots closer to Zoey, her grip on her tightening slightly. “Sorry” Rumi mutters embarrassed.

“It’s fine, Rums” Zoey replies, humming contentedly.

The movie goes on, playing on the big screen as Rumi’s full attention is taken by it. Zoey’s attention is rather divided, but this time it’s not by the cold she feels or how the movie’s plotline felt dragged out eventually along the duration of the film. But rather, by the heat she feels emanating from her date. Zoey feels drawn, her fingers resting on the rim of the popcorn bucket as her eyes dart from the large screen to the popcorn bucket in between her thighs.

Rumi’s mouth slightly agape, shocked at the turn of events occurring in front of her. She’s about to turn to Zoey to say something about it, possibly to tell her how it felt so unexpected. But she freezes in her seat, her arm is still slung over Zoey’s shoulder, holding her tightly. She feels small but skilled fingers just inching right by her thigh. But despite that, Rumi tries her best to just focus on the movie playing in front of her.

Zoey’s just mindlessly playing and teasing with Rumi, already forwent the film playing in the background. She tries to test the waters first as she inches it closer to Rumi’s thigh, her finger barely even holding onto the rim of the bucket at this point. No reaction. So she decides to get bolder with her actions as she removes her fingers completely from the rim of the bucket and instead had it resting on Rumi’s thigh completely. A small gasp. Finally, a reaction.

Painted lips curling up into a mischievous smirk. Her eyes still trained on the film as if she had been paying even the slightest of attention to it.

By now, the main characters had mostly either been dissected by the killer or were being actively being chased by them—Rumi couldn’t give a damn about it anymore. All she can feel is Zoey’s hand resting neatly on her thigh and her hot breath on her shoulder. It’s not like Zoey was doing anything, which is exactly why she feels pent up.

Zoey wasn’t doing anything and yet Rumi feels herself get riled up. The movie is already the last thing on her mind as she tries to focus on anything—just anything—but her fingers.

Rumi’s eyes dart around the small cinema, trying to see anyone else had been paying attention to them, but all the moviegoers had been staring and watching the movie intently, seeing as how it’s nearing the climax. Rumi notices how it’s basically just the two of them that seemed to have other plans that she actually feels guilt seep in and wash over her.

But it goes away almost in an instant when she feels a slight squeeze from Zoey. She bites down on her bottom lip to resist the urge to make a noise, and she eventually caves in. “Zoe” She mutters, her breathing slightly ragged.

“Yes, Rums?” She asks innocently, her hand still resting neatly over Rumi’s thigh. Zoey looks up from Rumi’s shoulder, batting her eyelashes as if she hadn’t done anything to provoke Rumi.

Rumi looks down, which arguably had been the second worst decision she’s done today. She feels herself get flustered, embarrassed, and hot all at once as she meets eyes with her date.

“W-we should watch the movie” Rumi mutters mindlessly, eyes sucked into Zoey’s brown orbs.

Zoey just hums in response, beaming a smile at Rumi before turning back her attention to the big screen before them. Her hand still resting on Rumi’s thigh, inching closer with each second passes, just ghosting over where Rumi had needed her the most.

Then the lights hit and soon enough the cinema was fully illuminated. The credits rolling in front of them. She hadn’t even noticed how the movie was already drawn to an end.

Zoey’s hand lifted off of her thigh in an instant that Rumi feels her lips tug into a frown. But she pushes the thought away, picking up the paper bags by the floor before getting up and following Zoey out of the cinema, hand in hand.

“Soo did you like it?”

Rumi doesn’t reply, thinking hard of a response. What did Zoey even mean by it? Had she meant the mind-boggling movie they had just witnessed? or Did she mean the stunt that she had just pulled? She follows Zoey into the parking lot of the mall, hand still holding hers tightly as she musters up a response.  “It was good” She replies, playing it safe.

“Really?” Zoey asks as they walk over to the passenger side of Rumi’s car.

Rumi hums intelligently, opening the car door for her date.

“I think so too” She winks before entering the car.

Rumi feels her face heat up as she closes the passenger side door behind Zoey. Taking a deep breath, she opens the backseat and gently places the paper bags on the seat before jogging over to the driver’s side of the car.

Silence envelops the two of them. Tension rises in the small interior of Rumi’s car as they drive off in silence. Rumi doesn’t even know what to say, not that the gesture was unwelcomed, it had just caught her off guard that she doesn’t know how to react or even what to say.

Eventually, before she knows it, they’ve already stopped in front of Zoey’s apartment building, pulling up into the driveway.

“Hey” Rumi’s the first to break the silence between them. She shifts in her seat to face her date who looks at her with a curious expression etched all over her face. She swallows as she stares into Zoey’s brown orbs, feeling her throat become parched and the words she’s carefully thought of as she drove, disappear from her mind. So she scrambles to find the right words. “I really enjoyed today” She manages to get out.

Zoey smiles at her as she tilts her head slightly. “I really enjoyed today too”

“Uh, let me help you with the bags”

Rumi gets out of the car in an instant as she jogs over to the other side, opening both Zoey’s door and the back seat. She grabs the paper bags in her left and Zoey with her right.

“Thank you, Rums” She giggles as she gets out of the car with ease with the help of Rumi. “It’s like you’re my prince”

Rumi chuckles as she holds onto Zoey. “With the amount of pampering I get, it might as well be princess at this rate” She jests as they walk inside the

“Even better” Zoey giggles.

The elevator ride was filled with comfortable silence as the two of them wait for the doors to open up.

Ding!

The two of them walk out of the elevator door, and Rumi’s only been here a handful of times, but she’s already had the path to Zoey’s apartment ingrained deeply into her mind that she could just walk over there with her eyes closed.

Zoey types in her passcode in an instant before pushing open the door with Rumi’s help.

“Coffee?”

“It’s fine, Zoe” It’s the first time this day that Rumi’s let go of Zoey’s arm, letting her go about her business in the kitchen.

She walks over to the living room, setting down the paper bags by the coffee table before plopping down onto the sofa.

Zoey rushes over to the living room, drinks in hand, She sets the mugs by the coffee table, and before Rumi could even open her mouth, Zoey says, “It’s chocolate. I know you love chocolate”

Rumi beams up at her as she takes a sip out of one of the mugs on the table. While Rumi’s busy drinking up the hot chocolate drink Zoey’s made for her, the latter grabs a couple of the paper bags off the coffee table. “This one’s for you” She grabs a couple of the contents, chucking them into the biggest paper bag.

Rumi’s eyes widen. “I told you it was fine” Her lips tugged downward into a pout.

“But I want to” Came Zoey’s simple reply as if she just hadn’t blown off what seemed to be a hundred thousand at this rate. She holds the paper bag in front of Rumi, to which the purple-haired girl grabs hold of it despite her mind telling her to reject it—but there really was no use arguing against Zoey, you were just simply bound to lose no matter what.

“Thank you, Zoe” She sets the paper bag down by the foot of the couch and the mug down onto the table. “I really had fun today with you—I mean it, and this isn’t including all these” She gestures to the paper bags on the coffee table, which earns a giggle from her date. “Even if we just sat by the park and ate ice cream, I’d still definitely come to enjoy it, as long as it’s with you”

Zoey smiles as she rests her head on the sofa. “I’m glad Rums” She scoots closer. “I really like you, you know” Her finger trailing on Rumi’s bare arm. “Like a lot that it’s embarrassing actually”

Rumi just watches as her finger trails up her arm up until her neck, just ghosting over her skin. “I like you too, Zoe” She replies, her gaze shifting from her finger back to her date that was now mere inches away from her face.

“I’m glad. You don’t know how long I’ve been trying to get with you” A giggle echoing between them. Eyes shifting from the brown orbs down to the painted lips.

“And you don’t know how long I’ve been thinking about this too”

About what? Rumi wants to ask but is instead met with the feel of Zoey’s soft and plump lips against hers. Her eyes closing in an instant as she reciprocates the kiss. And Rumi’s satisfied to know that Zoey’s lips taste exactly the way she’s envisioned them; strawberry and cherry mixed together so perfectly.

Their mouths moving in perfect synchronization as if it was practiced—as if they have done this a million times. She feels Zoey pull on her nape, as if wanting to pull Rumi impossibly closer than she already was. And Rumi—what was she if not a slave to Zoey’s requests—tries her best to inch closer to her date, wanting to close the gap between them.

Her hands sitting idly on her lap, not knowing what to do as well as not wanting to test her limits with Zoey.

Zoey drags her tongue against Rumi’s bottom lip, earning a satisfied noise as Rumi moans. She pulls back in an instant, face flushed as she her chest heaves up and down. “You—wow”

Rumi feels hot all over as her cheeks burn up in an instant. “Me?” She points to herself. “You were just—” Her head tilts back as she lets out a chuckle. “Wow” She says as she looks at Zoey.

A giggle escapes Zoey’s lips as she scoots closer to Rumi. The two of them just sharing a loving gaze that emanated all the adoration Zoey had stored in her for all those months she’s spent admiring her deskmate. And it doesn’t go unnoticed by Rumi as she reciprocates the same amount of love Zoey hands her as her gaze softens with each passing second they shared.

“This really looks good on you—and they’re turtles too!” Her fingers trail up Rumi’s crop top, just ghosting over the fabric of her shirt. “Would’ve loved it off too, but it looks good on you” She winks.

Rumi feels her face get impossibly red at the comment, her body heating up as lets out an awkward chuckle. “T-thanks” Her gaze shifting to anywhere but Zoey as she feels embarrassment catch onto her.

“Rums” Zoey clears her throat, shifting in her seat. “I really like you”

“I really like you too” Rumi replies in an instant as she meets Zoey’s gaze once more.

“I know” Zoey giggles, her hand running up her date’s bare arm. “But I don’t want to mess this up and I think maybe we should take it slow, if that’s alright with you”

And like a kid being asked if they love candy, Rumi nods wordlessly, which makes Zoey laugh as she watches her date’s reaction.

“I’m glad you’re fine with it” Zoey replies, her tone dropping a bit as she averts her gaze from for a moment, and if Rumi wasn’t mistaken, she could see guilt wash over her face.

So she reaches out and grabs hold of Zoey’s hand. “Of course, Zoe” She beams a smile at her.

Zoey looks back at Rumi, feeling the warmth radiating off of Rumi’s smile was enough to put a smile back onto her face.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Over the weekend, Rumi felt like she was on cloud-nine. She had just gone on a date with her deskmate who happened to have a massive crush on her—who Rumi also apparently had a massive crush on—her room had finally been cleared up and fixed up, her cooking skills somehow improved and she was no longer burning everything that was in it.

It was Monday and that meant having to go back to work, but Rumi hadn’t really minded, not especially when it meant having to spend most of her day sitting in front of the one girl that’s been plaguing her mind for days on end since her confession.

“Good morning” Rumi greets as she sits down on her chair across Zoey.

“Good morning, Rums” Zoey greets back, beaming up at her with her million-dollar smile. “You’re really happy today” She comments when she notices her deskmate’s cheery personality.

“Can’t I be happy?” Rumi answers, chuckling. “I mean it’s a nice day” She points out at the window right outside. “The office seems kinda quiet, and best of all, I get to see—”

“the HR”

Rumi feels her eye twitch at the grating voice that interrupts her. She closes her eyes for a brief moment before swiveling in her chair to meet his gaze. “Jinu” She answers, her voice dry and flat. An unamused expression spread all over her face. “What about the HR?”

“I need you to see the HR” He replies. A smug expression etched on his face as he crosses his arms.

“Why?” Rumi doubles down, crossing her arms across her chest as she mirrors his movements.

“Because like I told you last week, she hadn’t signed the papers from last last week and I need them”

“Couldn’t you go get then?” Rumi doesn’t even hide the tired expression she has plastered on her face.

“I could” Jinu shifts to a faux pitiful look. “But I’m swamped”

Of course you are. Rumi resists the urge to roll her eyes as she begrudgingly gets up from her seat. “Okay” She replies as a tired sigh leaves her lips.

She looks back at Zoey, seeing her deskmate look back at her with a pitiful expression made her all the more reluctant. But she decides to follow her team leader’s orders, not wanting to upset him into giving her possible overtime—it was the last thing she needed, really.

So after some long and tired strides, Rumi finally makes it to the elevator. It takes her a couple of seconds until she finally reaches the top floor, where she begrudgingly makes her way to the office by the end of the floor. She doesn’t heed the assistant’s warning anymore, doesn’t stop as well to ask her about Mira, and instead just walks right in.

She stops just right by the dividers to catch her breath, eyes closed as she pinches the bridge of her nose. She can thank Jinu for making her do the walk up this early in the day, essentially pissing her completely off.

But she tries her best to hold her anger in as she opens her eyes again and walks right in.

Mira looks up from her desk with an amused expression on her face. On the other three encounters she had with the purple-haired girl, it had mostly been with her sweating bullets and being all shifty under her gaze. For today, she was the complete opposite as she looked exhausted and had just decidedly walked straight into her office.

“Park Jinu is asking if you’ve signed the papers from two weeks ago”

Mira sets her pen down onto the table as she leans back onto her desk chair, arms crossed. “Sit” Her voice deep and holding authority over Rumi’s head with just a single word.

And instead of just plopping down instantly like she normally would, she instead takes her time sitting down as she looks at Mira. The same bored expression etched on her face.

An amused expression spread on Mira’s face. “Those papers…what were the contents?”

“The reports and paperwork from the business department” Rumi replies.

She nods in response as she eyes her employee.

And normally Rumi would shrink under Mira’s gaze, not wanting to be perceived under her boss’ stares. But today, Rumi doesn’t even bat an eye as she just looks at Mira, her position on the seat a bit more lax than usual.

“Have you been following the company code, Miss Ryu?” Mira’s mood shifts in an instant as she taps away at the keyboard, prying her eyes away from the employee sitting in front of her to her screen.

Rumi feels the gravity of the situation get to her as she sits upright, hands suddenly flying to her lap. She clears her throat. “Yes, Miss Jeong” She replies, her voice now with a bit more emotion than earlier—fear. She hadn’t really known why but she’d been trying to hide it whenever she went up inside her office, believing in the saying where you shouldn’t show any signs of fear in front of your superstitious beings—as if that trick had to work against Mira, their human boss. And Jinu? he was a good inducer of Rumi’s ability to just simply not give a damn about anything that was going on around her. Just have him either hand her work or even simply interact with her and it’s like Rumi’s ability to show emotions other from anger was revoked.

“Good” Her voice sharp as ever. “Company code section five, paragraph ten; dress code.”

Rumi furrows her eyebrows both in curiosity and in fear. What was Mira doing now?

“It states that you can’t wear any skimpy clothing that of short skirts that go above the thighs or shirts that expose anything above the waist. Have you been following that, Miss Ryu?”

“Yes, Miss Jeong”

A satisfied smile makes its way to Mira’s red painted lips as she watches Rumi slowly squirm under her gaze and words.

“Company code section four, paragraph two; employee’s well-being and health”

Rumi stays silent as she anticipates Mira’s next words.

“It states her that employees are to be fed and served with appropriate portions from the company pantry and-slash-or cafeteria. Is that up to code, Miss Ryu?”

“Yes, Miss Jeong” Rumi replies, as if its an automated response drilled into her mind.

“Let’s see here” Mira taps away for a while before she clears her throat. “Company code section one, paragraph one; main code”

Silence falls between them as Mira’s eyes shift from the screen in front of her to the shifty purple-haired employee in the seat across from her. “Employees are strictly not to date one another. Sanctions are to be imposed to those that refuse to abide this rule…” Nails tapping against the wooden desk. Her voice deeper as the words get dragged out.

Silence again as Rumi feels the air in her lungs get taken out.

“Have you been following that, Miss Ryu?”

Chapter Text

A worried spread over Zoey’s face as she notices her deskmate’s arrival. Eyes wide open, shoulders pressed and stood upright as she moved towards her desk in a fast pace.

“Is everything alright, Rums?” Zoey asked, eyebrows knit together in concern. She stops in her movements, swiveling slightly so she peers past her computer screen. “You look…unwell” She adds, trying to her best to be careful with her words.

The purple-haired woman slumps in her seat as she plops down. A resigned sigh leaving her lips as her eyes remained trained on the screen in front of her. She stays silent for a while; lips just pressed together into a fine line. It's a while before she finally speaks up since her walk up. “Yeah, everything’s alright” She beams up a weak smile at her deskmate, hoping that it’ll be enough to calm the worry she had been feeling.

And Zoey? She didn’t buy into it one bit. Worry and confusion still washed over her face evidently, because of course, Rumi was definitely more than just her deskmate at this point. But she had decided not to pry into it, not wanting to ruin how things were going for them just by insisting and prying at Rumi.

So she puts on a smile as she nods, drowning out the confusing thoughts away to the deepest crevice of her mind. “Okay, Rums” She replies as she throws a thumbs up.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

That was essentially how Monday went for the streamer. Nothing out of the blue had transpired for the rest of the day and by the time when lunch time had come and rolled around, it was like nothing had happened that day and things went on like normal for them with their usual conversations with Rumi, their tiny banters here and there—certainly minus all the flirting they’d do behind closed doors, but that had mostly been because of work. When the two were in the comfort of their own bedrooms during their nightly calls, it was a shift in the atmosphere as they talked differently than they would in the comfort of their office’s four walls.

The week had gone on like normal for Zoey, just as she had intended and wanted. But by the time when Thursday had rolled in things had shifted for worse when she not only gets more paperwork to file and do on top of the daily ones she has lined up for her, but had forgotten her phone on top of that.

Rumi’s offered to wait for her while she finishes up the work she had to finish up during her overtime hours, but Zoey insists that it’s fine. The last thing she needed and wanted to do was to make things worse for her and her girl as well. And after much convincing, Rumi eventually caves in and waves at her deskmate. She promises to stop by over on the way to work the next day to make up for it, even though Zoey had told her that it had been fine—not that Zoey really complained that Rumi had wanted to, in fact she was living for this side of Rumi.

“See you tomorrow” Rumi’s waiting by the door of their office, bag slung against her shoulder.

Zoey waves back at her, smile etched on her lips. Head tilting in fascination as she watches Rumi do a once-over of the office in quick succession. And once Rumi gets satisfied, she turns back to Zoey and blows her a kiss before rushing out of the office.

Zoey giggles as she bites down on her bottom lip, finding her deskmate to somehow be both adorable and clueless at times. She then turns back to the computer screen in front of her and heaves out a long sigh as she lets herself lean back onto the desk chair. Mountains of paperwork had been lining up on the far-right of her desk, waiting for her to pay them some attention so they can be filed away to the top floor where their HR awaits.

Well, that’s what Zoey got for essentially fighting back against their team leader. She always knew that going against him would definitely result in something as terrible as having an added workload on top of your already existing workload. But something about his words regarding her deskmate had struck her and she just simply blew off on him.

“One of these days, Park Jinu” Zoey mutters under her breath as she scoots closer to her desk, typing away at her screen. Vengeance wasn’t really Zoey’s type. If anything, she was a forgive and forget type of person. But overtime the more that she had worked in their company, the more she had learned to forget to go about her way as passively as possible. Instead, the company had molded her into the person she was now, and all it took was a couple months of suffering and a couple of people to throw the experience face first. “You’re gonna get it” She mutters in continuation to the anger she feels brewing inside.

Because if there was one thing that was known around their office, it was that one, their HR was someone not to mess with; and two, Park Jinu was a bitch.

It was practically a known fact how if you wanted to get home early, it was just a good idea not to piss off Park Jinu, who so happened to just love to abuse the power they held in the office, just holding it over people’s heads whenever he could. And Zoey was determined to put an end to that—she didn’t know how but she had to, especially after the events that had transpired today. Because there was no way she was going to just talk about Rumi however, he wanted and get away with it—no, Zoey had enough of it.

The ticking of the clock being the only thing that kept her company in the dimly lit office. The lights weren’t even there anymore than her officemates were. They flickered every once in a while, giving the office an eerie and haunted feel to it. And normally, Zoey would feel an ounce of fear run through her system as she did her best to rush her work to get out of the damned building as soon as she could. But anger still surged heavily throughout her body as she toiled away, not even processing the haunting and terrifying feel the atmosphere had begun to exude the moment she was left all alone.

But the thought of going home and having to stream eased her and never mind the fact that she also had Rumi to go home to, not physically. But it still felt exactly like it. The moment she stepped foot in her apartment she’d send out a text to Rumi that she’s already made it up to her apartment’s floor. And Rumi, in the parking lot of Zoey’s apartment building, would text her something along the lines of ‘that’s great’ with that adorable emoji she just loved to send to Zoey, before pulling out of the parking lot and leaving. And Zoey, after sending that text, would rush to the window by her floor and watch as Rumi’s car would leave and pull into the highway.

She knew she just had to leave as the clock started inching closer to six. Her previous stack of paper works were now reduced to nothing, and now the stack was neatly arranged into another pile. But this pile had her signature written and inked on every page instead of the blank signature lines earlier.

A resigned sigh escaping her lips as she gets up from her desk. A satisfied smile now etched all over her lips instead of the frown she had on since the moment she left Jinu’s office.

She slings over her purse over her shoulder before making her way over to the glass doors of their office’s entrance. She taps her id by the scanner before walking right out and making her way to the main entrance of the office.

Then she hears it.

Soft rapid clicking of heels just not far off from where she was. Now that all the previous feelings of anger and vengeance just washed over her already, she feels a chill run through a spine. Zoey abruptly stops in her movements. She could just bolt it to the door; it’s just a couple meters away. But curiosity chips away at her as she stands frozen, ears perked up as she tries to listen in again.

Then she hears it again. This time it’s closer than the last she’s heard it.

Soft hurried clicking of heels that sounded like it came from a couple of feet away from here. Then she hears the glass doors opening and she feels a sense of déjà vu wash over her.

“Miss Son”

Zoey’s lips press together into a line in an instant as she hears that familiar voice. A chill running through her spine as the hair on her arms start to rise despite the long sleeves of the sweater she’s donned on. But despite every urge in her body and her mind telling her to move and ignore it, playing it off by acting like she had her earbuds in, she just instead waits. Letting out a small breath before turning around and smiling. “Miss Jeong” She greets back, hand clutching her purse. Why did this have to happen on today of all days? On the same day she’d have to hold one of her streams.

“You’re still here” The pink-haired woman points out, stopping just a couple feet away from her employee. The heels clacking coming to a halt as it echoed throughout the entrance. “I assume you had overtime again?”

Zoey nods, her eyes subconsciously roaming down her boss’ figure. A navy-blue pencil skirt that stopped just right above her knees paired with a vest that hugged her body perfectly. Her eyes dart back to Mira’s brown ones. “Yes, Miss” She speaks up right after.

“And your team leader is?”

“Park Jinu” Zoey answers without skipping a beat. An overwhelming surge of déjà vu rushing through her in an instant.

Mira nods in response. She peers past Zoey for a bit before looking back at the short girl standing in front of her. “Come. I’ll take you out to dinner” Not even waiting for a response, Mira already sets off as she walks past Zoey, her eyes trained ahead.

A confused expression etched all over Zoey’s face as she trails behind her boss. “D-dinner?” She asks hesitantly as she walks closely behind Mira.

“Your reward for overtime. I think it’s cruel to assign you overtime twice in the same month”

And if Zoey were to tell her co-workers of this Mira then they’d most likely just laugh in her face and tell her that she’s gone insane because surely this wasn’t the same HR who’d terrorize them with just a mere glance or even just by her mere presence.

“It’s not necessary, Miss” Zoey replies, her tone soft so as not to sound harsh in her rejection. The last thing she needed to end the horrible day she’s having was to piss off the only other person in their unspoken set of rules, which was the HR.

They stop just right by the entrance of the parking lot, and this time instead of it being full of all the various cars owned by the employees, the only car left that sat at the corner was Mira’s sports car.

Zoey swallows thickly. The memory of Mira’s car still burning at the back of her mind, making rounds to the forefront of her thoughts. The way Mira smelled up close, or the way she looked as she drove; hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as her eyes focused on the road ahead, seldom catching Zoey’s glance as her eyes dart to her.

Mira tuts. “You’ve been working a lot lately, Miss Son. Take this as compensation” She says as she continues on with her walk.

And Zoey has the chance to just simply walk away and act as if Mira was insane for thinking she’d even follow in her tracks like a dog or a puppet with no other thoughts. But curiosity eats away at Zoey as she follows Mira, heels clacking and echoing in the empty parking lot.

They’re nearing the sports car by the end, and Zoey’s surprised it wasn’t a reserved spot that was specifically catered to the pink-haired boss. But then again, there had been a lot of unspoken rules among the employees, especially when it came to her. “I don’t want to impose—”

“You’re not” Mira interjects, her words cutting through Zoey’s like a knife.

The streamer has no choice but to instead just follow with Mira as she opens the car door to the passenger seat, already bracing herself for the small space she’s about to be cooped up in. Eyes closed for a brief moment before she mutters “fuck it” and gets inside the car.

The quiet hum of the engine being the only noise that echoed between them. Zoey’s hands fidgeting on her lap as she looked at anywhere but at the driver side. She wasn’t watching her—in fact, her eyes darted to everywhere else in the car—but she just felt the heavy stare of the driver. And suddenly the tension felt heavy and the air became too thick.

And before things could get any weirder than Zoey thinks they have, the car pulls out of the parking lot. The security guard on duty bows as he sees Mira’s car approaching the gate and Zoey starts to wonder a little too loud for her own good.

“Yes” Mira says as they pull out onto the highway.

Zoey turns to look at Mira with a confused look on her face. “Yes?”

“To your question” She replies, eyes steady on the highway in front of them, foot stepping onto the gas.  And when she sees Zoey’s confused expression on the mirror, she adds, “You asked if this was tinted”

Ah. Zoey nods, embarrassed. She hadn’t even noticed how she had asked it out loud rather than had just thought about it. And when she gathers herself again and the feeling of embarrassment dies down, she asks—so as to fill the empty space between them and rid the air of awkward tension, “Isn’t there a limit to tints?—Not that I own one, but when I got my license renewed I just kind of saw it on their manual” An awkward ramble at best, but it was Zoey’s way of alleviating the thick air between them.

An amused expression spread all over Mira’s lips as a chuckle leaves her lips. Hands still gripping onto the steering wheel. She clears her throat, making a sharp right by the intersection. “Yes there is”

“So the guard—”

“No, no one can see into my car”

And just like that, Zoey’s assumptions had been confirmed with just a single response. She feels the heavy weight fall off her shoulder just like that. Her eyebrows now knit together in thoughtful crease. “But isn’t there a limit?” She repeats her previous statement, now confused.

“Yes” Mira replies, a breathy laugh leaving her lips.

The car slowly comes into a halt as they pull into an unfamiliar parking lot. Everywhere Zoey’s eyes had darted to looked unfamiliar. She hadn’t been to this district of the city, not even stepping foot outside the twenty-kilometer radius outsider her apartment.

“I just pay an extra fee for it” Mira casually replies as if it wasn’t just admitting to a federal offense. Not that Zoey had really minded. Paying off for breaking something as important as laws held on the road had definitely had to be a large sum. And by the looks of it, Mira seemed to be doing well off—a lot more than Zoey had imagined. So for her to just say extra fee so casually as if it definitely wasn’t thousands and thousands of won, Zoey just knew she had to be on Mira’s good side for most if not all of the time.

She just hums in response as she waits for Mira to turn the engine off.

“Let’s go”

She felt like a puppet whenever she was with Mira; no actions had been done that wasn’t either under Mira’s influence or her command. Not that Zoey never really had her own thoughts, because she had. But she always felt the need to just to follow her words and command down to the very last letter. It was just the way her mind was conditioned especially under office environment, but that was then.

They weren’t at the office—hell, they weren’t even anywhere near the office. But still, Zoey had this urge in her to just follow Mira like the two of them hadn’t left the company premise.

The two of them walk inside an unfamiliar restaurant. It looked anything but shabby. The walls were a pristine color of white as scones hung on the walls every few feet apart from each other. A receptionist greeted them by the entrance as he guided them to an empty table not far from the entrance.

Zoey felt underdressed and she felt herself shrink under the atmosphere the restaurant just exuded. He hands them two menus before bowing and leaving them alone.

“What do you want?” The menu fully covering her face that the only thing Zoey could see were the painted nails that held onto the edges of the menu. And for once, even if its just for a few seconds, Zoey hadn’t been subject to her gaze.

She feels herself let out a short breath of relief, just quiet enough for it not to reach the pink-haired woman sitting across from her. She picks up the menu and instantly she feels her eyes bulge at the price. Sure Zoey had been living comfortably with her paycheck and the gifts and donations she receives from her fans, especially from the last stream. But seeing the amount of zeroes that followed the first number, she felt like she was better off just eating a salad, which even then had took up a large dent in her wallet.

A couple thousands just for a salad? What is this—does the chef chop these on your table and toss it on your mouth?

But Zoey just shakes away the thoughts as she pretends to skim through the menu despite fully knowing which meal she was definitely going for.

“So” Mira speaks up again after a while. “Have you decided?” She asks as she sets down the long menu down onto the table. Her head tilted slightly as she looks at Zoey.

“Yeah, I’ll have the salad” She replies, doing her best to not shrink under her boss’ intense gaze.

Mira tuts as she shakes her head slightly. “A salad? You’ve worked for an hour past company hours and that’s all you’re having?”

Zoey doesn’t know how to respond to Mira’s words, not knowing whether they’re insults or words of actual concern. Either way, she just doesn’t respond as she scatters to find the right words. But thankfully Mira speaks up again.

“You’re having the ribeye”

Zoey swallows the lump in her throat. The price for that exact steak wasn’t a couple thousands like the overpriced selection of salads that she was so sure she could make in a couple seconds, but it had almost reached half her monthly rent. And that was just one meal.

“It’s fine, Miss” Zoey waves her hand dismissively as she beams up a smile at her.

But Mira doesn’t reply and instead calls over a server. Just a few moments after that, a server comes hurriedly walking towards their table, notepad in hand.

Zoey just watches as Mira starts saying their orders, pointing at them on the menu.

The server nods as he jots them down quickly before bowing and leaving the two of them again.

Once again, an awkward silence fills the atmosphere, and Zoey doesn’t know what to do but fidget with her rings underneath the table. Her eyes wandering the luxurious restaurant she’s in. It’s not far off from the barbeque restaurant she had just been to with Rumi a while back, save for the lack of stove on the table between them.

The server returns not long after much to Zoey’s relief. He holds up two silver plates as he places them in front of them, and for a moment, the long price tag that had came with the food was long forgotten as she feels her mouth water at the exquisite meal in front of her. She could whip something like this up, but nothing beats a free meal from your boss that came at a price that was practically half your rent.

“Eat up” Zoey’s pulled out of her thoughts and trance when she hears her voice.

She looks up from the mouthwatering meal placed in front of her and looks at the pink-haired woman in front of her.

And if Zoey wasn’t mistaken, her lips had curled up into a small smile as her eyes bore into hers.

“Thank you, Miss” Zoey beams up at her. All the nervousness and awkward feelings just tossed to the side as they went about and ate their dinner.

Soft but thorough cuts were made with the knife in Zoey’s hand. The meat was tender that she easily cut through it. She picks up the fork with her free hand as she slowly digs it into the meat. Heart racing slightly in anticipation as she lifts up the forkful of meat to her lips. Mira’s eyes were no longer on her but rather on her piece of steak that had been sitting neatly in front of her. And once again, it’s like a weight had been lifted her shoulder.

She bites into the meat and suddenly she feels the flavors dance on her tongue in pleasant harmony. A satisfied hum leaving her lips in an instant.

“Taste good?” Mira asks, her eyes darting from the steak she’s cutting to the employee sitting in front of her.

Zoey nods as she chews on it carefully, scared not to waste any of the precious meat she’s even allowed to have for its price.

“Good” Mira chuckles in response. Unlike Zoey, she doesn’t carefully bite into it slowly by slowly to really savor it and instead just bites into it like any normal meal. And Zoey comes to a realization that this might be just like any other meal for her. But despite that, Mira still exudes elegance so effortlessly as skilled fingers drag the knife along the steak with ease. “There was this other place I wanted to bring you to. It’s a real hole in the wall” She smiles as she bites into another piece.

Zoey hums in response. “I wouldn’t mind that” She replies, easing into a casual interaction with her boss. “I actually love visiting those types of restaurants. The vibe they bring is just—y’know?” A small giggle escapes her lips.

“Mhm” Mira chuckles. “They also serve the best jjajangmyeon, you should try it”

Instantly stopping in her movements as Zoey’s eyes dart over to Mira, boring into her head as her boss is busy looking down at the meal in front of her. I’m sure they do. Zoey thinks as she stares at her.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Zoey stares at the chat logs between her and Rumi. It’s been a couple minutes since she had been home and sent her deskmate a message about it. Of course Rumi, like the caring person she was, had been wondering where had the short girl been to. And for a brief moment, Zoey had been torn between telling her the truth or coming up with a white lie. And in the end, Zoey settled on the latter. Not that she hadn’t trusted Rumi, but more like she hadn’t really known what to make out of the encounter. So she just replies to Rumi about grabbing dinner somewhere before heading home, to which the purple-haired girl sends her back a reply of ‘you should’ve texted me to pick you up, I wouldn’t have minded’ along with her selection of emojis that Zoey had found to be adorable. But she responds back with how she's forgotten her phone. Her phone dinged instantly and she gets a response back from her girl.

6:45 pm
Rumi<3
oh right..sorry :(

She’s stripped down and changed into a skimpier clothing that of a leather bodysuit. It was her go-to during streaming especially on nights like these where she was running low on time. She quickly sets up her camera and laptop, angling them so it captures the best view of her bed, before hitting the stream button.

It takes a few moments before it loads up and the familiar view of the comments start pouring in.

user39202: I missed you
strawberryluvr: ur so pretty 😘
user3894: 💗💗💗

Zoey smiles as she stares at the screen, doing her usual acts of teasing the viewers. Featherlight touches to her clothed abdomen, running her fingers down to her hips. Her free hand running up her chest, cupping her breast, giving it a light squeeze as she lets out a breathy moan.

ionic97_: Goddamn you’re so hot
jaswujs: The things Id do if I was next to you…
user93829: go lower

“Maybe if I get a donation I’ll think about it, hmm? How about that?” She says as she reads the last comment. Normally, Zoey would never really be one to ask for donations or even urge her viewers to donate, not wanting to seem greedy or anything with the likes of it. But for her to set her plan into motion, she just had to do it. The donations started pouring in and instant that she has to hold back a laugh. It was pathetic almost, seeing how her viewers were nothing but slaves to her requests. Her hands steadily kneading at her breast as her fingers inch closer and closer to her the one place she needs it the most.

“I’ll do whatever the top donator wants”

Tilting her head back in bliss as she traces her fingers along the edge of her clothed core. But her eyes remained glued to the screen, waiting and hoping.

And just like that, another set of donations pour in an instant. Starting off with just a measly thousands that racks up higher in denomination that Zoey loses count of the donation message as it gets covered off in an instant.

But then a message pops up that remains on the topmost of the screen, as if flaunting to the viewers how they could never reach their status. Her lips curling up into a satisfied smirk behind the thick mask she has on.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩1,762,500
take it off, but leave the socks on

Because to Zoey, it was just like watching them fall right directly into her trap.

Chapter Text

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩1,762,500
take it off, but leave the socks on

Donations keep pouring in an instant as if even having a shot or a chance at even amounting anywhere near the top donator, some even sending out hundreds of thousands but nothing even remotely close to it.

Soft nails dragging along her the lining of her bodysuit. The comments rushing in, asking—begging even—for her to go on with her show. Their demands evident in the comments they send out, asking her to do all sorts of things.

But her eyes remained glued to the message by the top right of the screen.

“Okay” Her voice raspy and ragged from her own actions. She kneels down in front of the camera, her knees pressing and digging into the soft mattress, sinking down a bit as she positions herself better. Fingers dragging up against the zipper of her bodysuit, tracing along the side of the teeth, before stopping momentarily by the top.

Her fingers playing with the zipper, pressing it neatly in between her index and thumb. “As you wish” She rasps out before softly dragging down the zipper. And if this was any other circumstance then Zoey would’ve gone on to tease her viewers before ultimately putting on a show, maybe even calling out the donator’s message, saying something along the lines of it being an odd request. Sure she’s had requests of toys to use on her, and what they wanted her to do with it. But nothing as odd as something as mundane as her socks being kept on. But she’s already made a deal with her viewers, so for tonight and tonight only, she was a slave to her top donator.

Slow and dragged-out movements as the zipper slowly rolls down along its teeth, the bodysuit opening slowly by slowly with each movement until it eventually reaches the end. Zoey easily shrugs off the bodysuit with ease, watching through the stream of her laptop how it easily falls off her body and onto her the duvet of her bed. She sits back down before kicking off the rest of her bodysuit, her socks now coming into view as she remains seated on her mattress.

Now bare under the camera save for the mask that clung onto her head and the socks on her feet. It’s a simple pattern of small strawberries on a plain pink base. Nothing out of the ordinary that would merit such an odd request from her donator. But Zoey just lets it be. After all, her plan had been falling into motion already just as she had intended.

Her perky breast moving slightly as she shifts in her seat, grabbing the bodysuit underneath her and tossing it away to the side. All that was left now on her bed was her with her adorable, printed socks which came in contrast to the stream she had been hosting. Hand flying up to her breast in an instant, cupping and palming it, giving it a light squeeze as her head rolls back in pure bliss.

“What else?” She lets out a breathy moan. “What do you want?” She asks to no one in particular. But it was clear who she had been talking to. Everyone in the stream knew, but her viewers still begged to differ as they sent countless comments, saying about the things they wanted their favorite streamer to do. But Zoey ignores them in an instant, her eyes almost as if filtering them as it blocks out the irrelevant comments.

Her free hand continuing its previous movements of trailing down her abdomen, this time on her bare skin rather than on the bodysuit she just had on. Her eyes still trained on the laptop by her bed, watching the comments roll in as she continues with her movements. Had they left?

And as if subconsciously reading her mind and proving her wrong in one swift move, another donation rolls in.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩430,000
touch yourself

Zoey doesn’t even think twice to ask “where?” as her fingers glide down her abdomen, stopping briefly right above her glistening core. She spreads her legs further open, giving her viewers a lewd scene of her being spread out on her bed. She drags her fingers up her folds. A moan leaving her lips as her eyes roll to the back of her skull. It had definitely been a while since she’s held a stream—a week maybe? And that was on the account of her going out with her deskmate. Not that Zoey really minded having Rumi over or spending her time with her more often that she would hold a stream.

Running up to gather as much slick as she could before holding it up and pressing it up against her covered lips. She pulls her mask up a bit, dragging her tongue and swirling it around the fingers. Her cheeks hollowing as she sucks on the fingers while her eyes stay trained on the camera; its indicator by the side of it flashing red over and over. She pulls down the mask afterwards in an instant.

Zoey doesn’t even pay the comments any more attention that she has been giving her top donator and instead is just focused on putting on an act, making sure to put in her all, not wanting to disappoint.

Fingers moving with skilled precision as it runs back down to her core, pressing against the folds with practiced choreography as it came second nature to her. The movements burned and ingrained in Zoey’s mind with the number of streams she’s hosted over the year. Fingers pressed up against it as she circles around her clit.

“Ah” Two fingers pressed up against her entrance, teasing and edging against the hole as her thumb presses up against the clit. Her legs spread even further as she leans back onto her bed, giving the viewers a full view of the streamer. No foreplay needed as Zoey dives right in, pushing her middle finger against the entrance of her core. There never really was much foreplay between Zoey and her shows, and not especially now when she gets urged to do all these by her donator.

“You like that?” It comes out ragged and breathy as her body arches into her touch, as if deprived of it that it craved it even more than Zoey had even thought of. Her questions just thrown out and left hanging out on the air to no one, but it was clear to who it was addressed. Zoey knew that; they knew that.

Her movements lax as hands continue palming at her breast, alternating between the two, while her other just dives deeper into her core. She pushes it as deep as she can before slowly pulling it back out, making a loud squelching sound that has Zoey moaning. Her eyes dart from the camera to the laptop on the side, and when she doesn’t see any message from her, she instead just continues with her movement, moving her fingers in synchronized motion of an agonizingly slow pace, even for her.

But she felt the familiar twist in her stomach. She felt the thrill of playing into her plan get to her, making her feel all the more hot and bothered as she thinks about her top donator in mind. She wasn’t going to last long if she quickened her pace, and she could thank them for it. Fingers gliding in and out of her hole with ease, the squelching sounds getting louder and louder until it’s the only thing echoing in her bedroom other from the unholy noises rolling down her lips.

Rumi. Zoey’s mind is suddenly filled with the thoughts of her purple-haired deskmate and she feels herself get worked up even more, slick coating her palm as it dripped onto it with every stroke. She wants to say her name out loud—as if doing it would be strong enough to materialize from thin air. But she resists the urge as she bites down hard on her bottom lip, scared that she’d slip up and accidentally spew it out to the thousands of viewers watching her behind a glowing screen.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩527,000
faster.

They know what they’re doing. Zoey thinks as the message remains displayed as the top donation, already covering the previous tips that came in, even surpassing her last one in an instant. Her mouth agape as she fulfills their wishes, adding another finger into the mix.

Zoey’s eyes no longer fixed on the screen or the camera and instead on the ceiling of her bedroom. Her hand no longer cupping her breast as she firmly plants it onto the bed for support as she obeys the donation. The squelching loud getting louder until it’s the only thing that fills up her apartment that she was sure that if anyone were to walk in right now it’d be the only thing they’d hear.

The smell of sex wafting heavily in the closed bedroom. Her pace quickens as she presses her thumb flat against her clit, rubbing it in a circular motion as if it was a practiced motion. “A-ah, yes” Mind slowly turning to mush as the thought of Rumi fills her mind again—the thought of her deskmate straddling her, peppering her bodies with kisses as her fingers worked like magic on her body.

Zoey was on the verge of denying herself the one thing she had been secretly looking forward to since the moment she’s announced to her loyal fans about her planned stream. She was so close—she can practically feel the familiar coil in her stomach about to snap in an instant—but the plan weighed heavily in her thoughts. Her fingers stop in an instant despite the voices in her mind telling her “no!”

“You like that, don’t you?” She picks up the pace, but this time, slower than before. Wanting to gauge out an answer, Zoey moves closer to the edge of her bed, her slick running down and ruining the duvet as she did. She stops just right by the edge to get a better angle at the camera. Her feet now planted on each side of the edge, pressing her knees close to her chest as she slowly spreads her legs wide open. A lewd scene of Zoey being bare to her crowd; nipples hardening at the cool breeze of air her air-conditioning brought as her core glistened brightly, swelling at her actions.

“Watching me do all this” She presses the finger deeper and deeper until it reaches the end of her knuckles. “Behind that, ah, little screen of yours” She bites down on her lip as she slowly adds another finger. “Or maybe you watch this in front of your television, making sure you get the best view of all this” She was never really one to taunt her viewers, hell, she wasn’t even one to initiate into a little banter with them, not willing to risk anything. She speeds up in her pace as her fingers dig into her duvet, nails clinging onto them so hard it’s tearing slightly at her touch. “Ah, you enjoy doing this, don’t you? A-ah, being hidden behind a screen bringing you thrill”

She waits for a bit. And those few seconds felt like an eternity until she sees another message pop up. No requests, no long messages, nothing but just one word that displayed on the screen of her laptop.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon sent ₩630,000
television

Zoey holds back a laugh as she tilts her head back in bliss. Of course it’s on a television. Zoey thinks as she picks up the pace. She never really expected less of them. She doesn’t even wait for another donation before she presses her thumb flat against her clit again, rubbing it erratically as she chases her high.

And it brought her even more thrill that they knew about her, but it brought even more excitement of having to know about them.

She feels the familiar tightening of coil in her stomach as her fingers move in and out of core. Practiced precision tossed aside as they move sloppily against her entrance, wanting nothing more now than to chase her own high. Then she feels it snap, and she feels the warm gush of liquid run through her fingers.

She pumps the two in and out for a while as she rides down her high, her fingers drenched and soaked with her liquid. She watches the comments pour in, praising her for the stream while some still begged for more. But Zoey has already had enough, already satisfied at the plan she’s set into motion tonight.

She pulls out her fingers completely, holding it up for the camera to see as she spreads the two fingers apart. Wet and sticky substance forming a web in between her fingers as she pulls them apart. She tilts her head slightly so she’s still into view. “Look at this. You made me do this” She says tauntingly before she moves forward to press the button on the camera, effectively ending the stream in an instant.

She lies back down onto her bed, the mask already thrown to the side in an instant. Her body glistening with sweat and a mix of her slick. She definitely had to clean the duvets and her bedsheets when she’d rest up.

No noise filled the room for a while. Except for the slight buzzing that she could hear faintly echo in her room. Zoey props herself up using her elbow as she looks around, trying to piece and figure out where the buzzing was. She turns to her left where her nightstand sat. Her phone had been buzzing intermittently. She reaches over as she slides her thumb across the screen.

Numerous messages displayed on her screen, all from her deskmate.

7:02 pm
Rumi<3
hey zoe
was wondering if u wanted to play that hunter game again :)
also no pressure if u don’t want to!

7:22 pm
Rumi<3
zoe
are u busy

8:12 pm
Rumi<3
was wondering if I did something to upset u
im sorry :(

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Sun seeps into the small wedges of the space between her curtains. Zoey groggily rubs her eyes as she gets up from her bed, pressing her hand against the mattress for support. She gets up from her bed despite every fiber in her being telling her not to, and to instead just roll around until she feels all the sleepiness wash away.

Changing into her work attire, she decides to stop by her mirror by the door of her bedroom. A pair of jeans and a shirt. Zoey tuts as she stares at herself on the mirror. A mischievous idea popping in her mind before she rushes up to her closet and picks out a completely different outfit than earlier.

A few minutes pass and Zoey’s no longer in the comfort of her apartment but instead inside Rumi’s car as the two of them head to work together.

“You look really pretty today” Rumi says cheerily, hands holding onto the steering wheel. “I mean like you always do but like you look a lot prettier—wait no, you—”

And before Rumi could blurt out everything on her mind, Zoey interrupts her with a giggle. “Don’t worry, I get it Rums” Lips curled up into a smile. She spares a glance at the girl in the driver seat, seeing her shrink slightly in her seat. “Really” Another giggle as her hand flies to her shoulder, rubbing it. “You look great yourself” She adds, her hand still lingering on Rumi’s.

“Thanks, Zoe” Rumi replies, her cheeks burning up a brighter shade of red.

“I’m sorry about last night” Zoey says, embarrassed at the turn of events that occurred last night.

Rumi just offers a smile at her. “It’s alright, Zoe” She responds. “I understand you got busy. Sorry if that was a lot”

“No no” Zoey waves her hand dismissively. “It wasn’t—you weren’t too much” She adds, hoping it’s enough reassurance for her to go about.

It doesn’t take long until they pull up into the driveway of the office parking lot. Only a few cars had already been parked inside, and one of those cars, in the farthest corner, was Mira’s sports car. Despite her terrifying demeanor, it was a known fact as well how much she valued her job—always the first to arrive and the last to leave.

They park in Rumi’s usual parking spot. The purple-haired girl rushes over to the other side of the car, opening it for Zoey.

She smiles at Rumi as she gets out, a flash of pink appearing in her peripheral vision as she gets up. A chill running down her spine as she stands right in front of Rumi, watching as she closes the car door. But she plays it cool as she walks right behind her, following her into their building. And just when they’re by the entrance of the parking lot, Zoey turns around to look back at the parking lot.

An odd feeling mixed with relief washes over her in an instant as she sees the empty parking lot. No one else had been in there except her and Rumi just a moment ago. The two of them make their way over to the desk and they go about their day, chatting and catching up about the events of last night.

Zoey just comes up with a white lie, telling Rumi how she had fallen asleep after she had sent those messages to her, feeling exhausted from the hour she spent in overtime. And Rumi, being the kind deskmate she is, accepts the excuse offered to her by Zoey.

A sense of guilt washes over Zoey, but she shakes it off after a while. It felt scary to her having to open up to the purple-haired girl about the reality of the things she did behind closed doors. It didn’t help that someone out there had known of her identity, and she was sure of it being someone from work. She hadn’t known who yet, but she was bound to figure it out sooner or later.

“Submit the papers to the HR”

Zoey stops in her movements, fingers just idly resting above her desk. She moves her desk chair back as she looks across her and Rumi’s shared desk to find their team leader looking down at Rumi.

“Which?” Rumi replies, swiveling in her seat to meet his gaze. Her arms crossed across her chest.

“The papers your wonderful—” He shoots Zoey a glare, but a smile plastered all over his lips. “—co-worker did. The HR needs to sign them before next week”

Rumi’s about to come with a retaliation, to fight back against Park Jinu. But Zoey beats her to it. “Haven’t you had enough with Rumi?” Zoey shot back bitterly. Her eyebrows knit together. “All you ever do is egg on her and treat her like—” Her words end abruptly as her eyes meet the CCTV in her peripheral vision. So she bites back on her own words instead, not wanting to get a sanction from the HR for breaking the code.

“Like?” Jinu asks, faux innocence evident in his voice and Zoey wanted nothing more than to rip that smug smile on his lips.

But she just huffs in response. “I’ll submit the papers” She replies between gritted teeth as she stands up, her desk chair swiveling slightly behind her. “I did and filed the paper works anyways” She adds, grabbing hold of the stack of papers and lifting it up until it’s securely in between her arms. “No need to bother Rumi for it” She walks past their desk, shooting daggers at Jinu as she passes by.

Rumi gets up as she rushes over to Zoey, catching up with her. “Zoe, it’s fine. I can bring it up to the HR” She says, trailing right behind her.

Zoey stops just right by the elevator, pressing a button despite the stacks of papers in her arms. “It’s okay, Rums” She turns around, smiling at her. “Now go back to our desk, I’ll handle this”

Rumi’s lips press into a thin line, feeling guilty for having her deskmate go through all the trouble just because she had stood up for her. “I’m sorry”

“Don’t be”

Ding!

She leans in slightly. “Park Jinu is a bitch anyways” The two of chuckle at Zoey’s remarks.

She smiles at her deskmate before walking inside the elevator with the stack of papers neatly arranged in her arms.

It didn’t take long until the elevator rode up until the top floor. Zoey had only been here a handful of times, maybe the same amount of times of Rumi and that’s stretched over a span of two years, unlike Rumi who seemed to do it in a span of a couple months. She makes her way over to the end of the hall.

“Is Miss Jeong in?” She asks the assistant stationed by the door.

“Mhm” She nods in response.

“Thanks” Zoey replies before pushing past the door that led to her office. Only momentarily stopping by the dividers to fix up her skirt and blouse before walking into her office, shoulders rolled back and head held high.

“Miss Jeong” She greets as she walks inside, stack of papers in her arms.

Mira looks up from her screen, eyes grown slightly wide at the unexpected visitor. “Miss Son” She greets back. “What are these?”

“The papers from my overtime” Zoey replies as she sets it down on the empty space of the desk before taking her seat on the only seat across Mira.

Mira leans back as she turns her full attention from her screen to Zoey. “If I had expected anyone to come over, I would’ve expected Miss Ryu”

Zoey lets out a soft laugh. “It’s because she’s our team leader’s favorite” She says mockingly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

An amused look spread all over Mira’s face as she gets up from her office chair, gingerly making her way over to the front of her desk. “She is, isn’t she?” She replies, her voice softer than the usual commanding tone she uses with the employees.

“He seems to love to mess with her” Zoey’s body now lax and relaxed than usual. “And she can’t do anything but take his requests and demands—”

“—Is this a formal HR complaint, Miss Son?” Mira cuts her off, leaning back against the desk, arms crossed, but the expression on her face anything but angry. Instead, it still held the same amused expression over it as her lips curled up slightly. She leans in closer to Zoey, her face just mere inches away. Head tilting slightly to the side as she presses her lips against Zoey’s ear, just ghosting over it. “I take HR complaints very seriously, Miss Son”

Had she dropped the formalities whenever she responded back, Zoey would’ve definitely forgotten how they were in an office environment and how this was most definitely her boss in front of her. Zoey swallows the lump in her throat. “Y-yes, Miss Jeong” She responds, her brain already short circuiting and getting fried at the closeness between the two of them.

Mira smiles. Her lips ghosting over Zoey’s ear that she can actually feel the smile that spreads over Mira’s lips.

The pink-haired boss leans back slightly, her eyes darting to Zoey’s outfit. The white pencil skirt that stopped right above her knee that went perfectly well with the long-sleeved blouse she had on. But something else had caught her attention. “Those are some…interesting socks” Mira blurts out, her composure cracking and falling off the seams for a split second. She clears her throat as she leans back, hands resting on the edge of the table, gripping them tightly.

“They’re lovely, don’t you think?” Zoey asks, formalities already thrown aside. She moves her feet forward, shoes and socks now in full display as it occupied the space between her and Mira.

The pink-haired boss’ eye fixates heavily on the pink socks Zoey had on. “Strawberries…” She mutters, eyes scanning the socks. “How cute” She feels her façade falling at the seams, but she takes a deep breath before looking up, surprised when she meets Zoey’s gaze. “I do think they’re lovely” She says in response to her employee’s question.

“Thanks” Zoey’s face lights up. “They’re my favorite” Her eyes dart down to her feet, watching the adorable pink socks she has on, leaning forward slightly. “But they got a bit…ruined last night” She tuts, eyes looking up at Mira, flashing her big doe-like eyed expression. She leans back in her seat, a smile now on her face as faux innocence spread all over her face. “But I really wanted to wear them, y’know?”

Mira doesn’t respond. Her hands gripped the edge of her desk tightly as she remained leaned back on it, chest heaving up and down slightly.

“Anyways, I’ll get going, Miss Jeong” Zoey says as she gets up. The formalities being remembered and used again as if suddenly remembering how they hadn’t left the office premises. “Sorry for taking up too much of your time” She says as she walks back a bit to bow down, making sure to meet Mira’s gaze as she leaned back up.

The smile on her lips never leaving as she held her gaze for a couple more seconds before waltzing away.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Saturday morning was spent cleaning around her apartment and making sure every inch of it was spotless for when Rumi comes over. The bedsheets were also tossed into the laundry and run through a cycle to ensure they had been rid of slick and sex.

And by the time Rumi had walked in Zoey’s apartment with food in arms, the apartment had been cleaned and dusted thoroughly.

“Hey” Zoey leans in to press a peck on Rumi’s cheek, guiding her inside the apartment.

“Hey” Rumi replies, grinning back at her, cheeks flushed and red from the small gesture of a kiss. She follows Zoey into the kitchen, placing down the orders of take-out she’s gotten on the way. “I brought Ice cream by the way” Rumi holds up the plastic bag. “It’s strawberry, your favorite”

Zoey beams a smile at her as she wraps her arms around Rumi’s neck, leaning in to pepper kisses all over the purple-haired girl. “Thank you” She says in between kisses before pulling away. Her hand holding Rumi’s as she drags her with her to the living room where her television had been turned on.

“Come”

Rumi just lets herself get dragged by the short girl, following her into the living room as they plopped down by the couch. The tub of ice cream set down on the coffee table in front of them. “What are we watching?”

“There’s this movie” Zoey replies, remote in hand as she taps away at the buttons. “Haven’t really seen the plot or trailer but I saw the poster for it and it looked fun”

Rumi just hums in response as she leans back on the green couch, arms resting by the top. Zoey loads in the movie before she leans into Rumi’s embrace, her head resting comfortably on her chest.

The movie starts playing for them on the television in front, and soon enough the two of them were engrossed in the movie all while entangled with one another. Their bodies intertwined as Zoey’s legs rested on Rumi’s thigh. The younger girl had wanted to pull her in impossibly closer than she already was, and Rumi? She wouldn’t have minded, wanting nothing more than to please her girl.

Her arm slung over Zoey’s shoulder as she rubs it gently, squeezing it whenever Zoey flinches. The movie playing in front of them slowly taking a turn a few minutes in and Zoey could feel the sudden shift in the movie’s atmosphere.

And before she knew it, the plot started unfolding in front of them. Her eyes wide and cheeks flushed as she unknowingly chose a romantic-comedy film that had heavy sexual innuendos and themes that played throughout the half hour they’ve invested into watching.

But it wasn’t like the film was just a sex-riddled film with some romance plot sprinkled onto it just to pass the requirements for it to even fall under the romcom theme. So they go on watching it like normal despite the heat between them increasing and becoming impossible to ignore as time went on.

Rumi’s breaths slowly become shallow and more ragged as the film went on. And Zoey, she did her best to ignore the growing heat she feels as her fingers rest just a couple inches away where Rumi needs it the most. She spares a glance at her girl, watching as Rumi’s desperately trying to pay attention to the movie playing.

But Zoey, the ever so mischievous person that she is, runs her fingers down trailing down Rumi’s clothed abdomen as her fingers ghost over the fabric of it. She stops and rests her palm just right above her waist, teasing her ever so slightly.

“Rums” Zoey calls out, her voice soft and nurturing almost if it weren’t for the mischievous plans that hid behind her smile. “Are you okay?” She asks as she presses the back of her hand against Rumi’s forehead. “You’re heating up, baby” The nickname slipping off so easily as a mix of faux and genuine concern wash over her face.

Rumi was indeed heating up and Zoey would’ve abandoned all plans of teasing her in an instant if it weren’t for that sudden flicker between her eyes and her lips. It was so sudden that if Zoey wasn’t looking right at her then she would’ve missed it just like that. Her lips curl up slightly into a smirk.

“Or is it because of me?” She asks, her voice raspy as her fingers tap on Rumi’s chest teasingly.

“M-maybe” Rumi admits, eyes now averting from Zoey, looking and wandering the entire contents of Zoey’s living room.

“Look at me” She puts two fingers under Rumi’s chin, softly dragging her to meet her gaze. “Do you have a fever?” Zoey asks genuinely, lips curled downward into a pout as her bottom lip juts out. It’s an adorable scene that just makes Rumi’s heart melt.

“No, I don’t” She chokes out, feeling the heat between them grow. “Is it just me or is it hot in here?” Her eyes flicker to Zoey’s pink lips for a moment before she looks away again, embarrassed.

And when Zoey finally gets confirmation that it is indeed not her being sick, she leans in and presses her lips against Rumi’s.

Rumi doesn’t even hesitate to reciprocate the kiss, tilting her head to the side to deepen the kiss.

Zoey doesn’t waste time as she straddles her hips, knees firmly planted on each side of Rumi as her hands fly to wrap around her neck, pulling her closer than she already is. And unlike the last time they had made out on the couch, Rumi’s hands are no longer idly standing by as she plants them firmly on Zoey’s hips, making sure not to drop the girl on her laps.

Swiping her tongue against Rumi’s lips to gain entrance, to which Rumi responds by letting out what Zoey thinks to be a melodic tune that she could listen to for days on end. She runs her tongue against Rumi’s as she leans in closer, hands sliding down to Rumi’s chest, stopping just right by her chest.

Pulling away for a moment just to catch their breaths, and as they do, Zoey sees a hint of pink flash for a moment. Her eyes growing wide as her heart starts racing.

Worry washes over Rumi as her hand remains on Zoey’s waist while her other moves to cups her cheek. “Zoe, are you okay?”

Chapter Text

“Zoe, are you okay?” Worry etched all over Rumi’s face as she holds the girl on her lap tightly by the waist, scared that she’d fall.

Zoey’s eyes set on hers, mouth slightly agape. Her hands sliding down to the sides. And for a moment she’s quiet, just boring into Rumi’s worried gaze. It takes a few more seconds until she speaks up. “I’m sorry” She says, her voice softer than earlier. Jutting out her bottom lip, she grabs hold of Rumi’s arms. “Just thought of something” Zoey says, rubbing Rumi’s arm slightly.

“You should sit down…Come here” She lifts Zoey up her lap with ease, earning a giggle from the girl underneath. She sets her down on the couch beside her, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. “You feel a bit hot”

“I mean we did make out” She sheepishly replies.

Rumi feels her face burn up as she averts her gaze from Zoey. An awkward chuckle leaving her lips as she scratches her neck. “Wait here, I’ll heat up the take-out” Rumi gets up from the couch, hurriedly making her way to the kitchen, which arguably just had to be the worst decision she’s made today.

It’s heating soup, how hard can that be? Rumi thinks as she arrives by the kitchen, staring at the take-out in plastic containers. She knows she can’t just toss the take-out into the microwave and let it sit for a minute or two maybe, not because it’s common knowledge for her but rather because of an experience that happened to her at three in the morning when she’s sleep-deprived and starving at the same time. She waltzes into her kitchen, grabbing the first take-out inside her fridge before tossing it into the microwave and tapping the numbers. Rumi had thought what was the worst that could happen?—The fire department arriving at your apartment after the take-out exploded and caused the microwave to burn up, that’s what.

So Rumi opens the cupboards underneath, trying to search for a pot. It should just be putting it into a pot and stirring it consistently until it heats up, right? She thinks as she finally manages to score a pot in between the cupboards. She gently grabs hold of it with two hands as she gets it out of the cabinet. But the thing about Rumi is, she never really was one to cook, not even for fun. The greatest achievement she’s done in the past weeks was to cook up egg without burning any of the sides, which had to be a miraculous feat for her even. But that was the extend of her duties at the kitchen. It didn’t help that this was Zoey’s kitchen. The last thing she needed was to accidentally burn a kitchen that’s not hers and have Zoey possibly ignore her for eternity for it.

She sets the pot down onto the stove, turning the dial up slowly until fire starts emerging from underneath. She opens the plastic containers and pours the contents into the pot. A ladle. Rumi thinks as she stares at the pot, wondering how in the world was she going to stir it. She searches the bottom cupboard once more, eyes frantically scanning around. She closes the cupboard doors when she doesn’t find the kitchen utensil and instead opens the drawers right above the cupboard. Rumi purses her lips. There’s a lot of kitchen utensils in the drawers—not that she hasn’t seen these, but it’s a lot compared to the ones she has in her own apartment, which just so happens to be the basic ones. Rumi carefully sifts through the contents until she finds the familiar wooden ladle.

“Aha” She mutters cheerfully as she takes the ladle out just in time for the soup to start bubbling and heating up. Placing the ladle in before slowly stirring the pot. She glances past the doorframe of Zoey’s kitchen and sees the younger girl still in the same spot she’s left her in.

It doesn’t take long until the soup starts to heat up again. Lifting the ladle up before her lips, Rumi blows on it a couple of times before eventually taking a sip. A satisfied smile makes its way onto her lips. She switches the knob down, turning the stove off. Rumi skillfully, or at least tries to, maneuver past the kitchen as she finds the bowls and places them down onto the marble countertop.

Zoey’s eyes light up as she sees the purple-haired girl rejoin her in the living room. But now with an addition of two sets of bowls in her hands and a pair of spoons wedged between her fingers. “Here” Rumi says as she sets them down onto the coffee table. “They’re still hot”

“Like you” Zoey teases, winking right after.

Rumi’s cheeks flare up as she takes her seat beside raven-haired girl back onto the couch. “Here” She grabs hold of one of the bowls, careful not to tip them over and accidentally spill the contents onto the couch. She grabs one of the spoons and dips it into the bowl. She blows onto it before lifting it up to Zoey’s lips.

Zoey smiles before leaning in and sipping on the soup. “This is really good, Rums. Did you make it?”

Rumi could take credit if she really wanted to and possibly score more points with Zoey, but then again that plan would get foiled almost instantly when she’d have to actually have to cook for the younger girl. And instead of this lovely and amazing cooking, Zoey would instead get whatever horrendous meal Rumi would manage to whip up without burning the kitchen to ashes.

“Uh, no” Rumi sheepishly replies, cheeks still red. “I got this from real hole in the wall restaurant. You’ve got to try it; they have the best noodles”

“I’m sure they do” Zoey giggles. She scoots close to Rumi, careful not to tip off the soup off in Rumi’s arms.

Rumi quickly scoops up another batch of soup, blowing on it before offering up the soup to Zoey. The latter reciprocates the action by opening her mouth and drinking in the soup. “So good” She mutters, mouth full of the delicious noodle soup her date brought in. “Here” She grabs hold of the other spoon on the coffee table before scooping up some of the soup. Zoey carefully blows on it before offering it up to Rumi, effectively mirroring her previous actions.

Rumi’s blush grows deeper as she drinks up the soup. Her eyes twinkling in response. “I missed eating this”

“We should go visit it!” Zoey suggests, her cheerful and bubbly demeanor making its way back.

“Sure, Zoe” Rumi grins in response.

The two go about the next few minutes just feeding each other soup and the noodles that came with it. A soft and domestic act of gesture exchanged between the two that sparked Zoey to have the same thoughts from last night make its round to the forefront of her mind again.

“Rums” Zoey says softly. The bowls were long forgotten already as they’re placed back onto the coffee table along with the spoons. Now Zoey’s slightly pressed up against Rumi again with her head pressed up against the latter’s shoulder. “I was thinking” She leans back as she looks at Rumi, eyes boring into her brown orbs. “We’ve been going out for a while, well we’ve known each other for a lot longer than that too” She averts her gaze as her fingers fiddle with each other, holding onto her rings. “That maybe it’d be best if we y’know actually go out with each other”

A dumbfounded look spread all over Rumi’s face as soon as those words leave Zoey’s mouth. Her eyebrows now knit together in thoughtful crease. “I thought we already were going out with each other” She asks, innocence clearly visible in her voice that has Zoey laughing in response.

“We are!” Zoey giggles, her lips curled up into a smile again. “I mean like if we made things official and actually went out with each other, unless—”

“—No no I want to!” Rumi interjects, a little too fast for her liking. “I mean” She clears her throat, acting as if to pass it off like she just hadn’t responded a little too soon, even after she had completely misunderstood Zoey’s question. “I’d love to, Zoe. You’re really nice and you just deserve a lot of good things in life” She rambles on.

“And I hope one of those good things happen to include a certain Ryu Rumi”

And as if Rumi couldn’t get impossibly redder, she just did. She feels herself shrink under Zoey’s gaze as her cheeks turn a bright red color. “I hope so too”

“Of course it would, dummy” Soft melodic tunes which were Zoey’s laugh echoed between them. Rumi thought she’d never have enough of hearing it. “Which is why I asked if it was fine with you if we, y’know, went out together like officially”

Rumi nods wordlessly, like a little dog being asked if she had wanted a treat, which earns another round of Zoey’s laugh. “You’re really cute, Rums” Fingers moving up to squeeze and pinch Rumi’s cheek.

Rumi grins toothily at her, completely smitten by her deskmate that she’s lucky enough to call hers now. “Not as cute as you”

“I feel like we’re too cheesy” Zoey giggles. “Doesn’t matter though” She mutters right after.

And as Rumi’s watching Zoey in front of her, the way her freckles shined underneath the dim illumination that the television emanated, she knew there were at least a dozen violations that came with their new relationship, and she just knows that if a certain redhead knew about their encounters then it’d definitely be the end for them both. But for now, Rumi just pushes that to the farthest depths of her mind, because that was how Ryu Rumi was—a do now, think later person. Acting on impulse was one of Rumi’s unfortunate habits, and planning something way ahead like a relationship wasn’t exactly her strong suit.

But things would work out in the end, right? Rumi had hoped it did. Hands cupping Zoey’s round cheek, squeezing and pinching it slightly in amusement. “So cute” Rumi murmurs as her eyes bore into Zoey’s. Her eyes holding only admiration for the younger girl.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The next days that had followed felt like cloud nine for Rumi. Things had gotten better for her and Zoey and never mind that Jinu had stopped pestering her. Well, it was too soon to say that yet; it had only been half the week. But so far things were smooth sailing for the two. Or at least Rumi thought.

See, there was still one thing that was bugging her, which was a pertinent hindrance to the blossoming relationship between her and her deskmate, which was the HR. Now normally the HR would always be in the way of a budding relationship between to employees or even worse if it had been between a boss and an employee, but this certain HR made things a lot worse, at least that’s what Rumi had thought.

Because had this been any other then things wouldn’t feel so big and complicated. But this is Jeong Mira, and Rumi feels like she has eyes everywhere in the company, and even worse is she feels like she just has eyes everywhere. Which, of course, wouldn’t be true. Mira’s just a human after all. But still, Rumi couldn’t shake the feeling of paranoia seeping in her blood as she feels like Mira’s watching her every move.

And this feeling gets worse and heightened when Jinu—speak of the devil—walks up to their desk.

“Another set of fuc—“ Zoey pinches the bridge of her nose, eyebrows knit together. She heaves out a long and dragged out sigh before opening her eyes again. “Another set of paper works for me to file in overtime?” Her voice tired and flat. And if looks could burn, Park Jinu would be obliterated into ashes.

“Not for you” Jinu replies. The infamous smirk missing from his lips for once that Zoey thinks she’s somehow at least won over something. He turns to his side, facing the oblivious purple-haired woman instead. “For you”

Rumi’s work interrupted instantly as the stack of papers land on her keyboard. “Hey I was typing up this month’s report!” She grumbles as she hurriedly moves the stack to her lap. Another frustrated groan leaving her lips as she sees the letter T just spread throughout a line in the document. She swivels in her chair, stack in her lap, eyes staring directly at Jinu. She’s shooting daggers with her glare, hoping that one of these days she’d actually pierce Jinu. “What’s this?”

“The business proposals. They need revision. Finish it by today” He replies, the edges of his lips curling into a half smirk.

“Business wha—Jinu, this isn’t my expertise”

“I know” He replies innocently. “But Zoey can’t do them for you. Apparently something about overtime being given twice a month being against the code” He grumbles. The cheery façade he puts on almost returning instantly as he clasps his hands together. “So you will do it for her instead, yey!”  His voice anything but excited.

Rumi glares at him for a few seconds before turning back to her desk and placing the stack of papers by the side of her computer. Retreating footsteps echoed at their side of the room as Jinu walks back into his office to do god knows what, much to Rumi’s interest. All she knows is how much work he hasn’t been doing, and instead would pile it on top of other employee’s workload.

“Rums” Zoey peeks out from above, standing on her tippy toes so she can peer past the computer and the stack of papers. “I can help you wi—”

“No, Zoe” Rumi cuts her off. A smile on her lips despite the previous encounter brought to them by their insufferable team leader. “I don’t mind” She playfully scoffs. “I’m almost done with my work anyways”—She was, in fact, not done with her work. Hell, Rumi wasn’t anywhere near finishing her work. Thanks to the little stunt Jinu had pulled, she had to redo a couple of lines in the document. But Zoey hadn’t known about that and Rumi would like it better that way. Better it be her to do overtime rather than Zoey having to go through it for the third time this month.

“Are you sure?” Concern etched all over her deskmate’s face as she continues to stand on her toes just to peer into Rumi’s side of the desk.

“Yep” Rumi holds two thumbs up as she flashes a smile at Zoey. “I haven’t had overtime this month anyways so don’t worry”

“Okay” Zoey replies before retreating back onto her side of the desk.

Hours pass like a flash and suddenly it was time for them to clock out. And Rumi would’ve celebrated—she managed to finish up the document just in time for their work hours to be over. But of course, the celebration becomes short-lived when she remembers the stack of papers beside her computer.

“Are you okay with walking home?” Rumi’s swiveled in her seat to completely face Zoey. “I can drive you there and just come back” Her hand holding Zoey’s as the latter had walked over to her side of the desk as soon as their office hours ended.

“Yeah, Rums, don’t worry about it” Her hand gently caressing Rumi’s. “Just text me when you’re done, okay?” She squeezes Rumi’s hand; it was the most that they could do or at least get away with without garnering suspicious looks from their co-workers. “I’ll get going now” Zoey says as she walks back a bit, their hands no longer intertwined.

“Okay. Text me when you get home”

Zoey nods as she beams up a smile at her deskmate.

Rumi waits until Zoey walks out the entrance of their office, until she’s no longer in her field of vision before she swivels in her seat again to face her computer. “Revisions” Rumi mutters as she stares at the empty word document in front of her. “How hard can that be?”

Rumi would soon learn the answer when she starts going through the documents and suddenly it becomes a known fact to her that either her co-workers hadn’t passed second grade or this was made by an actual second grader. The sentences barely made sense and some of them hadn’t even been spelled right. Then Rumi makes it to the bottom of the page and she finally understands why the paper barely even held meaning.

“Park Jinu, you son of a bitch” She mutters under her breath, careful not to make a sound loud enough for the surveillance cameras to catch wind of. This looks like his ass typed it up for him while he drank coffee. She thinks as she goes through the long stack of papers.

She throws her head back in her desk chair, letting out the loudest groan as her hands fly to cover her face. A few seconds pass until she sits upright in her seat. Cracking her knuckles before typing away at the keyboard.

One hour felt enough for Rumi, but had this been done better then it would’ve been done in record time. But of course, their team leader held a grudge to everyone in the office that was beneath him, and it just so happened that he held a grudge for the two deskmates like his life depended on it that Rumi starts to think that perhaps in their past life Jinu was a monster and both her and Zoey had hunted him down that he vows to hunt them both in their next life.

Rumi shudders at the thought. But of course, Jinu being a monster wasn’t really that far off—he basically was anyways.

Rumi glances at her peripheral vision. The clock was way past half of five in the afternoon, and she had already finished more than half of the paper works. Rumi was feeling confident as she feels herself get fired up again to continue typing faster than usual, maybe then she’d manage to finish early and get home and rest.

Click-clack

Rumi’s eyes widen almost instantly as her fingers stood frozen on top of the keyboard. Sweat started forming at her forehead as she stared at the screen. Surely that had to be just her imagination, right?

But she stays silent for a while for good measure. Then she hears it again. Another click-clack, a bit louder and firmly than the previous. She feels her soul leave her body as she hears sets of click-clack echo in the empty office. No one else was here except her, unless somehow Jinu was evil enough to assign another poor soul overtime. But it was evident that he hadn’t.

The click-clack get louder and louder and Rumi just braces herself as she closes her eyes, mouth mumbling and muttering a cast of words put together as if she’d somehow manage to mutter a spell.

“Miss Ryu”

Was the devil calling for her now? Rumi’s eyes still remained shut as her hands were now clasped together as she continues muttering a mantra.

“Miss Ryu” She hears it again but this time it felt as if the voice was directly behind her.

Rumi feels a chill run through her spine when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She opens her eyes as she slowly turns around. Relief washing over her in an instant when she realizes it was no other than the pink-haired boss. It was one of the rare occasions where Rumi was actually glad to see Mira.

“Mir—Miss Jeong” She clears her throat to cover the slip of tongue. “What’re you doing here?” She asks so casually, trying to play it off as if her forehead wasn’t a waterfall at this point.

Mira removes her hand off of Rumi’s shoulder as she looks at the purple-haired girl below her. “I could ask you the same thing” An amused expression now spread all over her face.

“I, uh, overtime” Rumi manages to get out, her hand gesturing to the stack of papers by her computer.

Mira spares one glance at the unfortunate stack before darting back her gaze onto Rumi and muttering, “Pack your bags. You’re going home”

“M-me? But I’m not done—”

“Says who?” The curious expression on Mira’s face never faltering. Her arms now crossed over her chest.

“J-Jinu..?” An awkward smile spread over Rumi’s lips as she scratches her nape.

Mira shakes her head slightly in amusement. “He may be your boss, but I’m also his boss as well as your boss, and I say that you’re done”

“Y-yes, Miss” Rumi nods as she turns around and starts saving her files and document before shutting the computer off. By the time she had turned around, she had expected Mira would’ve at least started walking out and making her way to her own car to leave. But instead, the pink-haired boss had been waiting   by her side.

“Oh you’re still here” Rumi says, surprised.

“Yes. Now let’s go, I’ll treat you to dinner” Not even waiting for Rumi to follow up, Mira starts making her way to the entrance of the building

“What for?” Rumi asks dumbfounded but still decides to trail behind the redhead.

“As compensation for overtime” She replies, her pace never slowing down.

“You don’t have to, Miss” Rumi politely declines, but Mira insists. And Rumi never really was one to go against pressure, always just accepting everything the way it was.

“I’ll follow behind you” Rumi says as she stops by her car.

Mira finally stops just a few feet away from Rumi as she turns around. Her eyes darting to the black automobile behind her employee before back to Rumi. Rumi feels herself shrink under her gaze, feeling shy about her car as she has the sudden urge to make Mira turn back around so she can look at anywhere but her car.

“Okay” Mira replies before turning back and continuing on her walk to the only other car in the parking lot.

Rumi gets in her car and waits for her boss to pass her by before following her right out and into the highway. She slows down in her pace as she trails closely behind Mira, making sure not to lose eye contact with the silver sports car in front of her.

After a few intersections and turns, they eventually arrive by a familiar district. Rumi parks her car right beside Mira as she gets out of the car. She walks right up to the sidewalk before peering out past the corner of the building. “Aha” Rumi mutters as she confirms her suspicions.

Mira’s just watching her curiously from the distant, waiting for Rumi to walk up to her before she decides to ask, “What were you doing?” Her arms crossed together as her eyebrows raised in curiosity.

“I was checking around because this place looks familiar, and that” She points out to a place in the distance. “Is the park near my house” She proudly says as she looks at Mira with a grin.

“What a coincidence” Mira replies. “I live quite near too”

Rumi’s mind flashes back to the awkward encounter by the park, her mind telling her and urging her to ask Mira about it, but she decides against it as she just follows the pink-haired woman inside.

The two of them get seated by a booth as Mira orders for the both of them. Soon after, their order gets taken to their table in a flash.

Rumi’s mouth watering at the bowl of noodles set in front of her.

“I hope you don’t mind noodles. I’ve been desperately craving for some today. I would’ve gone to my favorite today…” Mira wistfully says, picking up her chopstick. “But they’re closed today”

Rumi snaps her fingers. “The one two blocks away?”

“Yes” Mira replies, a smile on her lips. She gracefully traps the noodles in between her chopsticks before bringing it up to her lips and slurping it up.

Rumi does the same…or at least something half as graceful as Mira had and instead slurps up half of the original scoop. “I know that place. I love going to that place too!”

“Mhm” A smile etched on Mira’s lips. “They have the best jjajangmyeon there. You should try it sometime”

Rumi’s lips press into a thin line as she looks at Mira. The pink-haired girl had her eyes set on the noodles in her bowl, going about her way to trap it in between her chopsticks, while Rumi’s eyes just remained trained on her.

“I’m sure they do.” She replies, her eyes practically burning a hole onto the top of Mira’s head.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

By the time Rumi and Mira had parted ways by the park with Rumi turning right and Mira going straight ahead, Rumi had quickly made her way up to her apartment wanting nothing more than to rest. She kicks off her shoes and fishes out her phone to send a message to Zoey.

6:10 pm
Me
hey Zoe just got home :)

She strips herself off of her work clothes, tosses them into the hamper, and takes a quick cold shower. Once Rumi was finished, she puts on a pair of shorts and a random shirt she’s managed to snag from her cabinet. Her phone was on, indicating a reply had come in

6:15 pm
Zoey 💚
HII RUMS <3
sorry im on a stream right now
ill reply after, okay?

Rumi’s eyebrows furrowed together as she reads the response. Because any normal person would think “oh, they’re just streaming on twitch” but her relationship with Zoey was anything but normal. So Rumi quickly sits down in front of her laptop as she boots up the familiar site, and sure enough, Zoey had been live.

But instead of being naked or stripping herself down on her normal shows, she’s instead just sitting on the edge of her bed. Mask still remained on as she wore a strawberry pyjama set.

“Yeah I think so too” Zoey’s eyes staring at the side instead of the camera. “Thanks for the donation, berry” She blows a kiss. “Well, yeah it’s pretty much—who was what?”

Rumi looks at the comments section. It seemed like Zoey had just been conversing with her viewers instead of her normal show. Her eyes darting to the title by the corner of the comments. ❁strawberry_princess❁’s 200k livestream special<3 (thank you berries!)

user319831: happy 200k!
ionic97_: yay congrats
grant_t: ur amazing
j_j_jjajeongmyeon: the person you were texting

Rumi’s eyebrows still knit together as she reads the comment. Her mind had already jumped to conclusions about their identity since earlier—it was surprising really that it took Rumi that embarrassingly long to piece everything together.

“Oh that?” Zoey’s voice interrupting her train of thoughts. She watches as the girl clasps her hand together. “That was my girlfriend”

Rumi feels her heart flutter at the mention, her eyes darting to the comments as she sees them flood and fill the section, some were congratulations while some had been comments about how they never even knew she was into women.

user2192332: have u been to the turtle aquarium?
user031930: Say hello plz imu r biggest fan!
fdjacjz: thoughts on peaches?
user79130: i love eating ramyeon too!

A bunch of harmless questions and comments filled the space. Up until the same person Rumi had been dreading had commented again.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: Does she know?

 “I haven’t been to the turtle aquarium you’re meaning but I’m meaning to—does she know?” Zoey stays silent for a while as she stares at the corner of her screen, perhaps reading it over and over to make sure she got it right.

And almost instantly she gets a respond from the same person again.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: your girlfriend. Does she know?

Silence fills the stream before Zoey shakes her head. “She doesn’t know yet. But I’ll be coming around to telling her” Her voice shaking slightly.

Chapter Text

Hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as they approach the intersection. Feet slowly taken off the gas pedal, pushing the car to come to a slow halt.

She waits until they roll down their window before pressing down a button and lowering hers as well.

“Uh, I’ll be going this way, Miss”

Her voice muffled by the on-going traffic on the highway just a few blocks away. But Mira piece together with the way her employee's mouth.

"Okay" Mira replies, her voice louder than usual as she nods. She rolls the windows back up, pressing on a button until it's rolled all the way up. In the small view of her sideview mirror, she can see the black sedan retreat until it’s no longer in her field of vision.

Heels clicking slightly as it presses harder onto the gas pedal. The steady hum of the engine roaring as it speeds away into a gated village not far from the interaction. Only lifting her heels off the pedal when she sees the large gates get closer in the distance.

She presses down onto the side button by her door's handle. Her heel lifted off completely as she stops by the large pristine gates that lead into a subdivision.

The security guard makes his way over to the driver side of the car, leaning down slightly as he clutches onto his hat. His furrowed eyebrows easing in a second when he notices the driver.

"Good evening, Miss" He bows, to which Mira tilts her head down slightly in response; a tired expression etched all over her face. Once he gets up, he rushes over to the post and presses a button which triggers the gate's mechanism.

Soon enough, the gates have completely moved open to the side. Not wasting a second, Mira zooms past the guard, stepping on it like her life depended on it. The engine roaring as she speeds up at a pace faster than light. Wind blowing in her face as she speeds away, mentally cursing herself for not rolling it up again after stopping. Her house coming into view as she reaches the end of the cul-de-sac. Her house towering over the others in the distance as it stood on an elevated foundation. It felt egoistical to have it built higher than most houses in her block, even as far as getting complaints from their homeowner association. The two-storey building hovering and essentially towering the rest exuding a terrifying and haunting feel for every person that passed by or even glanced at it. But Mira couldn’t care less. It kept the solicitors away, and even better yet the kids as well.

She rolls into her driveway with ease despite the inclination, stopping just right when she parks inside the garage. Getting out of her car and shutting her garage door with an ease of a button, Mira makes her way into her house. Keys get tossed to the bowl by the door. Handbag discarded somewhere along the path from the foyer after the garage to the living room. It’s not like she had a maid to come in and clean up after her, nor did she ever want to have one. But after a long and exhausting day all Mira had just wanted to do was to kick her feet up the coffee table as she’d play something on the television.

On most nights it’d be a boring documentary she’d play by accident until she’d doze off and snore, which brought her bill higher than usual—not that it really mattered to her. But on some nights, like tonight, she ends up opening her browser when a familiar notification would pop up.

Eyes darting from the large screen mounted on the wall across from her to the clock that hung adjacent to the wall. 6:10 pm. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she turns the volume up slightly.

“Welcome, welcome!” A giggle echoing through the speakers mounted right below the television. “I know! I’ve been trying out some of the games you’ve been suggesting me since the last milestone stream” She clasps her hands together. Her mask still tightly on her face with only her eyes visible, and despite it being a dimly lit room and the eye holes being as small an inch, Mira could clearly make it out being brown.

She pulls up her phone, tapping away at her keyboard as she opens a familiar browser. Her fingers gliding with ease on the screen and soon enough the stream was playing on her phone as well. It was small and paired with the low lighting the streamer provide in her bedroom; Mira could barely even make out the outlines of her face. But it wasn’t like it was of any importance to her if she managed to see the stream on her phone; it served no other purpose to her other from the fact that she used it to type up her comments, her messages that she wanted to say to the streamer.

Mira’s eyes remained trained on the mounted television as her fingers tap away on her screen, as if the act came to her like second nature. And perhaps it did. But that wasn’t something Mira was willing to admit out in the open. Subconsciously, sure. Her fingers moved with practiced precision as it knew exactly which parts of the screen to hit to open up the comment section without skipping a beat—and that was while she had her eyes fixated on the television making sure she hadn’t missed a single scene. Not that there was anything to miss out or skip out on when instead of her usual lewd shows and acts was a normal stream to celebrate a milestone.

Mira taps something on her remote with her left hand. The title flashes above the streamer for a while. ❁strawberry_princess❁’s 200k livestream special<3 (thank you berries!)

She hums in respond, nodding. It had been a while since her last milestone, and Mira would definitely know about it since she had been there for the first time. A hundred thousand livestream special that Mira was lucky enough to witness, and that was on top of the fact that she had just learned about her when she had stumbled across her stream while looking through the site. Because of course, Mira had been human after all and being human came with urges.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Admittedly that wasn’t exactly the best of her, but who can blame her really when it had just been a moment of weakness at two in the morning when nothing could put her to sleep and using her imagination to spice things up really wasn’t going her way. So, she boots up this site she’s heard when walking home from the park—it was just a random encounter and something she should’ve long forgotten after taking a walk to clear her mind. But it instead stuck and so there Mira was—searching up the site on a browser. And one thing led to another and soon enough, she had stumbled across her.

She remembers seeing her stream as she scrolled through the on-going ones on the home page. And the pink-haired woman’s curiosity was piqued almost instantly. Because on the stream was a masked woman—a hot one too. And of course, Mira was only human, so instinct told her to stay a little longer than just scroll past it and possibly lose the streamer forever with the countless number of streamers on the platform. And to say that she loved it was an understatement. She got hooked to her almost instantly and soon enough the stream became a frequent thing for her.

Then came her livestream event where she learned a lot of things about the mysterious streamer; about how much she loved strawberries a little more than the next person, how she loved playing in her free time, or how she just loved turtles. The last bit of information stuck out to her like a sore thumb, it wasn’t that it was unusual but she had just thought that it was maybe something casual like how a person could say they love apples but not well enough to build your own apple farm because of it. But of course Mira was proven wrong when she had went on a tangent about it.

So when the streamer had set up her public wishlist of sorts for her viewers to see, Mira runs to the site to gift her the best thing she could find on that list; a ginormous turtle plushie that she was sure was one to one scale of the streamer’s figure. And the look on her face when she opened the package and saw it had brightened Mira’s day.

Infatuation turns to crushing, and crushing was just a deadly line between liking someone well enough to want to see them as often to obsession. And that was a scary line to tread between for Mira. So she kept her distance and chose not to interact with her at all since then. And things went well for her for the most part—she had a streamer she had loved to watch whenever and her being somehow both adorable and hot was just the cherry on top, and her work had never been better.

In fact, her work had gotten so better that she had finally had her own closed-off office instead of sharing one with her assistant. The added privacy was a nice touch and it really helped her build rapport with her employees or well build her reputation around her employees as the boss that was simply to absolutely under no circumstances to piss off.

Of course that rule had an exception and Mira would figure out sooner that that rule had bended for no other than a five-foot something turtle-obsessed employee that wore space buns on days where she was happy and had let her hair down on days where it felt rough. Of course the turtle obsession was something Mira had been completely unaware about until the day they needed to update their employee database came in and work was anything but easy for Mira since she had to go through all seventy-something employees of her company and interview them one by one.

In comes Zoey, and suddenly it was like work came easy for Mira, as if she hadn’t gone through all give stages of hell and torture with the interviews. Suddenly she was actually having fun on her work, which came rare for her; it was a once in a blue moon occurrence. Naturally, Mira’s fondness grew for her employee but like any rational and sane person, she held her heart at arm’s length and kept her distance from the employee. Admiring her from afar was the most she could do without risking getting herself kicked out.

Then came the day where Mira’s whole perception of her and everything around and between them changed.

“Miss Jeong” Zoey carefully walked past the dividers. A worried and awkward smile etched on her lips. Between her hands was a small stack of papers, shorter than the ones brought in last week.

Mira stops in her movements; pen between her fingers, back leaned back onto the leather desk chair, and heel softly tapping on the carpet floor. “Mhm?” Her eyebrow raised slightly. Had this been any other employee then Mira would’ve shut them down in an instant just for not knocking on the divider first.

“You know how you asked for the reports for this week from Park Jinu and—”

“Yes” She interjects as she sits upright. The gravity of the situation slowly getting to her but she decides to act casually about it. She clasps her hands together as she looks at the terrified employee standing in front of her. “Why isn’t he here?” She asks when Zoey remains silent.

“Uh” She holds the stack in her arms, adjusting it so it doesn’t fall down and scatter on the carpet floor, because of course having that happen in your boss’ office could possibly be the worst thing that could happen. “About that”

“Sit down” Her words a bit softer than the tone she’d normally use. So sue Mira for having favoritisms, it wasn’t like any of the employees had the gall to use that against her. None of them had the guts to do anything against her really.

Zoey follows Mira’s words diligently as she sits across the pink-haired boss. And when she does, Mira nods and says, “go on”

“He was supposed to come here and submit, but…” Her words trailing off as she winces, her tone and pitch getting higher and higher with each word.

“But?”

“Buthecouldn’tbecauseheaccidentallyplacedhalfthereportsintheshredder” She says in one breath, her eyes averting her gaze from Mira.

Mira lets out a soft hum as a chuckle leave her lips. “Slow down and tell me what he did”

Zoey presses her lips into a thin line before huffing. “He accidentally placed some of the reports in the shredder so this” She lifts up the stack before placing it down onto her boss’ desk. “Is all that’s left of this week’s report”

“So he sends in Miss Son Zoey hoping that it’ll calm me down” She muses, just loud enough for Zoey to piece together. “Do you think it worked?” She asks her employee, her facial expression however remained neutral which made it hard for Zoey to even have the slightest idea what was her boss feeling.

“No…?” She asks more than states, the awkward expression spread over her face never faltering. “I’m really sorry—”

“Tell me, Miss Son, what do you love?”

The question had caught Zoey off-guard; it’s clear in her expression when she looks at Mira with a wide-eyed expression. But she clears her throat and does her best to compose herself. Her eyes looking up as she subconsciously holds out her palm. “Well, I love cats, oh I also love barbecue” With each enumeration Zoey had said, she presses down a finger against her palm. “Oh I also love the smell rain, turtles, and oh have I mentioned I love my job and love that I’m very much not fired” She says. The awkward smile never leaving her lips not even for a second. She lets out a giggle but continues on grimacing.

And had it been any other circumstance, Mira would’ve chuckled—laughed even. But something about what Zoey had said had stuck with her. And suddenly it finally felt like the planets had aligned and the dots had connected. It made sense after all that she had grown fond of the employee, but she had always just chalked it up to her having a lot of similarities with the streamer—a LOT of similarities. The similarities were there but it hadn’t really connected to her that it had been the same person.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Mira stared at the screen in front of her. Zoey had gone off to read the comments, seeing as how her eyes dart to the side instead of staring directly at the screen.

“Mhm I’ll try cooking that when I can” She nods, and despite the mask on her face, Mira can practically feel the smile on her lips.

Mira, instead of joining the crowd of fans in sending their thoughts for the streamer, just stares at her television, phone in hand.

Then something catches Mira’s eye. Zoey goes off screen a bit with only half her body visible. It looked like she was leaning over to the side, doing god knows what. It takes a few second until she returns back into the camera’s field of vision. The masked streamer being visible again but this time with her phone in her hands.

Mira types up something and hits send without even batting an eye.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: Who was that?

A simple question, though admittedly a bit more demanding than her usual comments. She had no right to ask nor did she have a right to even demand for an answer. But curiosity gets the better of Mira and she just ends up hitting send as she lays back on her couch.

“Yeah I think so too” Zoey’s eyes staring at the side instead of the camera. “Thanks for the donation, berry” She blows a kiss. “Well, yeah it’s pretty much—who was what?” Her eyes squinting as if trying to reread the comment in case she’s mistaken it for something else.

A bunch of comments pour in right after and Mira takes this a chance to type up a response, her eyes glued to Zoey, making sure not to miss a message, only flickering down to her phone to check the message she’s typed up before hitting send.

user319831: happy 200k!
ionic97_: yay congrats
grant_t: ur amazing
j_j_jjajeongmyeon: the person you were texting

“Oh that?” The slight change in her tone made Mira know for sure what it had meant before she had even answered her question. Because if there was one thing Zoey was good at, it was reading body language. It was an unspoken language, yet Mira was quite well-versed with it that even with the slightest change of tone or body movement, she could immediately see right through you. She watches as the girl clasps her hand together. “That was my girlfriend”

Mira doesn’t know what to make of it. She wasn’t upset nor was she angry, not that she even had any right to begin with. Instead, her lips press into a thin line as she types up another message. This time, she sends without thinking twice.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: Does she know?

“I haven’t been to the turtle aquarium you’re meaning but I’m meaning to—does she know?” Zoey stays silent for a while as she stares at the corner of her screen, perhaps reading it over and over to make sure she got it right. Despite the mask being tightly on her face with only eyeholes to show her face, Mira can see right through her.

She types up another message, but this time her finger ghosts and hover over the send button as she stares at it for a while. Her mind racing through the millions of thoughts inside before she eventually lets her curiosity get the best of her and hits send.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: your girlfriend. Does she know?

Zoey remains frozen a bit as she looks at the message on her screen. There were at least hundreds of viewers sending messages by the second, but her mind had done its part to filter them all out until the only messages that remained on the screen were hers. She shakes her head. “She doesn’t know yet. But I’ll be coming around to telling her” Her voice shaking slightly.

It’s subtle, the way her voice shakes, or the way her eyes dart to the side as if looking for a way out. But Mira can see right through it.

As she’s typing up her next message, another commentor appears. Normally, she’d just ignore all the comments flashing on her television, it seemed like they were just fans of the streamer. Except the message stuck with Mira as she stared at the screen.

golden_huntrx: you shouldn’t ask those type of things

Her eyebrow raised and her interest piqued once more. Fingers tapping with ease as she erases her line of message before typing a new one.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: I was just curious.

And instead of typing one out instantly, she just waits as she stares at the comment bar. Zoey had composed herself in the background and had started responding to the other comments, and for once, Mira’s attention isn’t fixated on her and instead on the mysterious commentor.

Soon enough, another comment appears.

golden_huntrx: still shouldn’t ask personal things like that
golden_huntrx: im sure her girlfriend would be okay with it

Zoey’s in the background, and Mira can faintly hear her, saying a small thank you to the golden commentor.

“I hope she does” Her voice is anything but not awkward that Mira can practically feel the grimace behind the mask. “It’d make thing sooo much easier”

But Zoey gets forgotten in the background, only becoming static for Mira and the unknown person as they continue with their little back and forth interaction.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: that’s rich don’t you think?
j_j_jjajeongmyeon: coming from someone who tried to “expose” her

It doesn’t take long, in fact, it takes only mere seconds until another message pops up.

golden_huntrx: and you’re next if you don’t stop bothering her

Mira’s stunned. For once, her cold and reserved demeanor cracks within seconds and all that’s left in its wake is a scared woman. Because surely if this person had known of Zoey’s real identity, it meant that they had also known of her. And of course, there was a possibility of a bluff just to test the waters, and Mira wasn’t about to risk that. But Mira wasn’t also the type to just get shoved and pushed around; it wasn’t how she had earned her status in work and in life.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon: what makes you think you’re not next?

“Alriiiight!” Zoey drags out as she clasps her hands, her tone cheery but her body meant anything but that. “That’s enough for tonight’s stream. Sorry I have to cut it short, my berries” She leans in to the camera. “I’ll host another special stream soon, bye bye!” She blows a kiss at the camera before the stream comes to an abrupt end that all that’s left on Mira’s television is a black screen that reflected her living room.

She heaves out a long sigh as she sits up, phone still in hand as she contemplates the interaction. The idea of someone out there on the site knowing her identity undeniably irked her and made her skin crawl. Surely, no one else had known about her—she had taken every precaution ever to make sure that her secret doesn’t leave the comfort of the four walls of her home.

Then she feels a buzz.

Her phone glowed as a notification popped up.

1 new message.

Mira’s eyebrows furrowed together as she unlocks her phone and opens the message. It’s a personal message for her from the last person she had expected.

❁strawberry_princess❁ 🟢
what is ur problem

A confused look etched all over Mira’s face as she stares at the message over and over, making sure she had read it right.

Then before she could type up a response, another message comes in.

❁strawberry_princess❁ 🟢
i get that you’re trying to defend me
i appreciate that, i really do, but don’t go attacking the viewers

Mira hurriedly types up a response and hits send.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon 🟢
they literally had exposed you before
and you expect me to just sit back?

A response rolls in almost instantly.

❁strawberry_princess❁ 🟢
yes

j_j_jjajeongmyeon 🟢
why would I do that?

❁strawberry_princess❁ 🟢
because I can defend myself
you don’t have any right to do any of this as you please

j_j_jjajeongmyeon 🟢
and have you exposed to all those creeps?

❁strawberry_princess❁ 🟢
just because you sit at your office at the tippy top of the building
doesn’t mean you can act all high and mighty

Mira’s eyebrows furrowed as she stares at the message on her screen. Confusion spread all over her face. What did she mean by that? But before she could type up a response, the green dot beside her username flashes and turns grey, indicating how she had logged off.

Chapter Text

Work had definitely been anything but mundane at their office. Normally, it’d consist of the typical paperwork’s that they’d have to toil away at for the rest of the day until office hours ended. But today had particularly been exhausting especially for Rumi. The purple-haired employee’s shared desk had been filled to the top with paper works and dues. Not that she was one to complain since everyone else at their office also had their desks filled with stacks of papers on top of their daily tasks to complete.

A long and exhausted sigh dragged out from her lips as she leans back onto her office chair.

Space buns from behind the computer move to the side of the monitor, tilting her head to peer past the stack of papers and monitor to spare a glance at her girlfriend. “Hey” She calls out.

Rumi’s facial expression lightens a bit at the sight of Zoey. “Hey” She calls back out as she sits up. A smile now plastered all over her lips.

“You okay?” Zoey’s voice soft and tender as a concerned look is etched all over her face. Her desk swiveling slightly to the side to gain a better view of her drained deskmate.

“Yeah” Rumi nods slightly as she leans on the desk, inching a bit closer to Zoey. Her chin resting on her arm while her elbow rests onto the full desk between them. “Kind of exhausting” Another sigh leaves her lips. “Just didn’t expect them to hand this much” She gestures to the paper between them. “To everyone in the office”

“Bummer, I know” Zoey blows a raspberry as she leans back shaking her head. “Apparently even Jinu had this much paperwork handed to him” She adds in a low voice.

“Really?” Rumi’s eyebrows furrowed together.

And before the two could go on with their little break and conversation, it gets interrupted by none other by the same person that had just been the center of their conversation.

He walks over to the center of the office, loudly clearing his throat as if to announce his presence, which hadn’t really done much for him. His co-workers just roll their eyes in response to the raven-haired man. Most of them had gathered by the center, leaning back on the desks with their works put on pause. Zoey and Rumi had joined the rest of their co-workers by standing near the growing crowd. Most of them had grown bored; their arms crossed and the expressions on their faces an indication of how they remained unfazed by their team leader’s pretentious behavior and pathological need to be ostentatious at times.

He loudly clears his throat once more as he looks around.

Rumi’s eyebrow is raised as she joins her co-workers with their looks of bored expression etched all over their face.

“Get on with it!” Someone within the crowd loudly says, earning a few snickers and laughs from the rest.

“I was” He shoots a pointed glare at no one in particular; eyes searching the crowd for the culprit. “Anyways as I was about to say” He shoots another glare at the crowd. “I have an announcement to make”

Silence follows right after that for a while and the employees looked at their boss both in anticipation and boredom. Well, it beat sitting on my desk doing work. Rumi thinks as she stares at Jinu. Time was passing and it was only a matter of time until their shift ended and that meant being able to head home. By then, the work would already by future Rumi’s problem and no longer hers.

“Tomorrow, I have a surprise for you all. That’s all” He flashes them his infamous smile that the office just absolutely loathed with every fiber in their being.

Mixed responses of murmurs and complaints emerge from the crowd the moment those words left their boss’ mouth. Jinu remains unfazed by their reactions and instead had just retreated back into his office without another word or sound.

“That was it? An announcement of an announcement?”

“He’s so goddamn annoying”

“Whatever it is he’s gonna announce tomorrow doesn’t seem like a good thing”

“Of course it isn’t. It’s Park Jinu. What do you even expect?” Their co-worker replies, letting out a loud laugh right after.

“Yeesh” Zoey’s face wincing at the interaction between her co-workers. “Poor guy”

“Don’t tell me you feel bad for him now” Rumi mutters, nudging her girlfriend.

Zoey guffaws as she turns to Rumi. “Me? Feel sorry for that douche?” Head shaking slightly in response, as if in disbelief she’s even accused of it. “To hell with him. That man loooves to power trip. It’s only a matter of time he gets his ass handed to him” She snorts out, covering her mouth as if scared to even get caught saying the very same things her co-workers had been talking openly not too far in the distance.

“Good” Rumi chuckles. “Don’t forget how many times he’s given us overtime just for this month”

Zoey’s eyes roll back as she lets out a loud groan. “Don’t remind me about that. He’s such a pain in the ass” She says as they slowly make their way back to their desk.

“He is” Rumi agrees, laughing.

“Hey” She calls out once they arrive at their desk, each at their own respective sides. She stands just right by her desk chair.

Rumi looks at her expectantly, awaiting her deskmate’s response. She leans on her chair slightly, holding onto its arms.

“Do you maybe wanna go hang out at my place tonight?” Zoey’s voice now a bit softer, her cheeks slightly red as she avoids Rumi’s gaze. The latter now has a smug expression etched all over her face as she crosses her arms.

“Who’s shy now?” She teases.

Zoey just looks at her with a pout, jutting out her bottom lip as she plops down on her seat.

“I’m kidding, Zoe” A chuckle escaping her lips. Rumi mirrors her deskmate’s actions and sits back down on her chair. “Of course, I’d love to, Zoe”

And suddenly, just like that, Zoey’s mood gets lifted almost instantly as she beams up at her girlfriend’s response. “Great!” She cheerily responds.

“We can stop by the grocery too and I’ll whip something up for us”

Zoey’s previous sullen mood gets tossed out the first window almost instantly and by now she was basically radiating warmth and happiness.

And truth was, Rumi’s cooking skills still were the absolute worst. For the past few days she had been meticulously practicing how to cook and whip up meals that were worthy of even being cooked outside the comfort of her kitchen. And for the past few days, she’s somehow triggered her smoke alarm more times than she can count on both her fingers and foot. But seeing how excited Zoey was to spend the night with her, and—even better yet—taste a meal done by her, Rumi just had to somehow miraculously level up her cooking abilities by tiers on tiers that not even Michelin chefs could outcook her.

I mean it’s cooking, it’s practically second nature if you wanted to survive. How hard can it be?

Rumi would soon get the answer to her question almost instantly when she and Zoey are finally out of their office’s four walls and at the supermarket near the latter’s apartment building. Rumi looks at the vegetables in her hands which very much looked foreign to her. So whenever Zoey wasn’t looking, Rumi would sneak a photo on her phone and look it up with the help of her browser. She had also secretly looked up various recipes that had fairly easy ingredients and steps, so that effectively weeded out the recipes that needed to be sautéed and flambéed. Rumi’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the recipes. At this point they’re just making up words.

The supermarket trip lasted another five minutes with Zoey going around to buy whatever her hand had landed on, saying how she needed Rumi to taste it and eat it, and Rumi following right behind her short girlfriend and placing back some of the items back onto the rack. Admittedly she had been eyeing some of the food Zoey had tossed into their cart so the purple-haired girl hadn’t minded it really.

After their supermarket trip, the two had made their way to Zoey’s apartment on Rumi’s car, which had effectively cut their trip very short. And soon enough after almost nearly just a minute, the two were hauling up the groceries—more like Rumi had. The latter hadn’t minded how she had been the only one carrying the bags of grocery despite Zoey insisting multiple times how she could be of help. But, of course, Rumi hadn’t minded as well how she would haul everything up, especially after how Zoey basically paid for everything.

Ding!

Once the elevator reached the Zoey’s floor, the two made their way to her room by the end of the hall. The path to Zoey’s apartment room had become ingrained into Rumi’s mind despite only being able to visit a few times.

The younger girl punches in her passcode, pushing past the door before urging the purple-haired girl in. Rumi quickly walks in, careful enough not to trip over her own shoes and have the groceries flying across the room. She kicks off her shoes, trying her best to neatly arrange them by the shoe rack before making her way to the kitchen where she sets the bags down.

“Do you need help?” Zoey asks as she leans onto the island; her face beaming up at Rumi with joy and excitement.

And the logical answer to that would be yes, I very much need help. But whether it was Rumi’s pathological need not to burden anyone—leaning very heavily on her people pleasing nature that she’s developed by high school—or it was the need to impress Zoey, she instead just shakes her head with a smile on her lips.

Zoey nods as she leans back. She excuses herself and walks towards the living room but momentarily stopping by the doorframe to look back at her girlfriend with pouty lips. “Are you suuure?” Zoey asks. The cute expression etched all over her face almost making Rumi melt instantly. But she nods in response.

“Yeah, babe” Rumi replies as she grins. It had been the first time Rumi had called Zoey by a pet name and whether it was intentional or a slip-up, Zoey was giggling right after; face burning up as she walked away. And in retrospect, it was a cute turn of events—Zoey asks her a question and Rumi slips up with her words (she was bound to at one point because who is Ryu Rumi if not impulsive decisions and constant slip-of-tongue), then the two would act as if it hadn’t happened, too shy to talk about it to one another because they haven’t really openly talked about that yet. But behind the grin Rumi had on, she was panicking and every fiber in her being had told her what a gigantic idiot she was for turning down Zoey’s help.

What the fuck were you thinking, Rumi? She shakes her head as she unloads the bags one by one onto the island. Well, surely this shouldn’t be hard.

At some point, Rumi’s bound to learn that whenever she says “it shouldn’t be hard”, it—in fact—would be hard. But still, she had been thankful for the nights before this where she had spent practicing religiously how to cook at one in the morning and had just hoped that it wouldn’t be as bad as the last. And while her progress is small—miniscule even—it was still progress and she eventually knew how to not burn something while she cooked it on the pan.

She settled on something easy. Ramen. It was something she ate a lot at the noodle shop nearby her house and by now she had the flavor and contents basically ingrained in her mind at this point that she could just eyeball the measurements and ingredients. Not like it was any different than when she’d actually try hard to cook based on the recipes she’d find online.

She brings out the pan from the cupboard underneath, running it through cold water before filling it up just enough for her to make the soup.

For the next couple of minutes while Rumi had been busy cooking (at least to Zoey’s knowledge), Zoey had been prepping the living room, setting the television and the coffee table for their dinner. And soon enough, the two were in the living room, eating the ramen Rumi had whipped up for the two of them.

“How does it taste?” Rumi’s voice is soft, careful even, as if scared of Zoey’s reaction.

Zoey hums happily in response as she finishes her bowl. “It’s great. Like really good” She replies.

“Are you just saying that not to hurt my feelings?” Rumi asks, pouting, to which Zoey just giggles in response.

“No” She scoots closer to Rumi, the couch dipping slightly under their weight. “I loved it, really, thank you” She presses a chaste kiss on her cheek.

A pink tint creeping its way onto Rumi’s cheeks in an instant. “Thanks” She mutters, relieved and glad that she’s somehow made something that was not only at least edible but also tasty by her girlfriend’s standards.

“What do you wanna do?” Rumi asks when the bowls are put away and the dishes are left on the rack to dry, taking her seat back onto the couch next to Zoey.

“Hmm” Zoey hums, tapping her chin as if deep in thought. “I was thinking of watching something”

Rumi holds two thumbs up, nodding. “Sure, Zoe, whatever you want”

Zoey squeals as she grabs the blanket on the couch’s arm and drapes it over the two of them as she taps away at the remote. A movie flashes on the screen and starts playing within seconds. Rumi takes her previous position on the couch the last time she was here and slings her arm over Zoey’s shoulder. Zoey immediately sinks into Rumi’s arm in response, her head resting on her shoulder as her hand rest idly on her stomach.

“What movie is this?” Rumi asks after a few minutes when the film starts playing before them and realization set in for her how she hadn’t had the slightest clue what it was about even.

Zoey just mutters the plot, saying something along the lines of how she had just tapped the first movie she had seen on the television and had just hoped that it’d be interesting enough. And Rumi, being the diligent girlfriend she was, had trusted Zoey blindly, not that her judgement had ever failed her because it seemed like there simply just wasn’t a dull moment with the turtle-obsessed girl.

“We should visit the turtle aquarium downtown” Rumi mutters a few more minutes in, not wanting to admit how the movie had slowly bore her to death that she had started thinking of anything other than the film playing in front of them. But of course, Rumi had been paying attention to the film every once in a while, but most of the time her mind drifts to the different thoughts just running though her mind.

With a burst of renewed energy, Zoey’s eyes widen as she looks up at Rumi, not moving an inch from her comfortable position. “We should!” She leans back, her hand still resting on Rumi’s stomach as her eyes bore into her girlfriend’s. “Oh you’re soo gonna love it there” She giggles.

“How about this weekend?” Rumi suggests. The movie already forgotten as it plays idly in the background; the sound of the character’s dialogue providing perfect background static for the two girlfriends as they continue discussing their plans.

As if Zoey couldn’t somehow get even more adorable, her eyes widen as she looks at Rumi with a doe-like expression. “Really?”

Rumi knew what it meant getting together with Zoey and she knew that it also meant having to put up with Zoey’s adorable expressions which was in contrast to the streams she’d do for her thousands of viewers—the mere fact bringing whiplash to Rumi. It was like getting the best of both sides of Zoey.

“Of course, babe” Rumi replies, her awkward demeanor surfacing in an instant as if she was a teenage in front of the hottest girl in class, which Rumi thinks would very much still be right in their place.

Zoey lets out another squeal in response. Her hand accidentally brushing upwards; fingers ghosting over the edge of her chest, the thin fabric of the blanket draped over them being the only thing blocking her.

Rumi lets out a strained yelp, biting down on her bottom lip as she feels Zoey’s featherlight touches.

“What’s wrong, Rums?” Zoey asks, concern etched all over her face as worry washes over her in an instant. She lifts up her free hand and carefully presses the back of her hand against Rumi’s forehead. A sigh of relief leaving her lips. “You’re not burning up” She says with a smile on her lips.

“Just tense” Rumi manages to let out, voice small and of higher pitch than usual.

“Must be from earlier” Zoey tuts. “Don’t let whatever Jinu said get to you—I’m sure his surprise is just as lame as he is” Shaking her head slightly as she clicks her tongue. Hand now on the Rumi’s shoulder, rubbing it softly to comfort her. The position is awkward, forcing Zoey to move up her fingers, accidentally brushing up against the one place Rumi had wanted her to avoid, or so that’s what she thought.

Another strained yelp leaves her girlfriend’s lips as she bites down on her bottom lip to prevent any other embarrassing noise from leaving her lips.

Zoey’s determined to figure out what was wrong; head tilted to the side and a curious expression replacing her concerned one. “Come on, tell me what’s wrong”

But instead of replying and easing her girlfriend’s worry, Rumi had just stayed silent. It’s not like Zoey’s actions were unfamiliar—she’s had girlfriends before (surprisingly), and she knows when one thing leads to another. So she just remains silent as she feels the weight of Zoey’s hand just right below her chest.

“Rums” Zoey tries again but to no avail. Her eyes darting around Rumi’s face, inching lower and lower until her concerned expression gets replaced almost instantly with a smug one. The movie—it’s still playing in the background and by the sound of it it’s nearing the climax of the film. But she couldn’t care less. Underneath the covers of the blanket, Zoey drapes her leg over Rumi’s, firmly planting it firmly on both sides of her waist.

Rumi’s breathing getting heavy with each second passing by. Her eyes darting at anywhere but on the girl on top of her.

“Rumi” Zoey calls out again, dragging out as both her hands now firmly planted on her abdomen, no more blanket to provide her safety against Zoey’s touches. Dragging her finger along the lines and patterns on Rumi’s shirt while her other works on squeezing her sides as it drags lower onto her waist. “You’re so pretty like this” Zoey leans in, murmuring against the shell of Rumi’s ear.

Her actions were anything but unwelcomed; her touches being reciprocated as skilled fingers moved to hold her waist, keeping her firmly in place. The blanket already thrown and discarded over to the side; it’s laying somewhere on the floor of Zoey’s living room floor.

And despite the perfectly well air conditioning of the Zoey’s apartment, Rumi feels the heat rising as her cheeks burn up. Eyes now no longer wandering as they stay stationed on Zoey’s face, admiring her face, trying to memorize the features as if it’d be the last time she’d see it, wanting to ingrain it into the back of her eyelids so it’d be the first thing she’d see every time she closes her eyes.

Her hands gaining a steady rhythm, softly caressing the streamer’s hips. Zoey moves and grinds her hips in response, soft satisfied noises leaving her lips, picking up the pace. Her hands no longer idly holding her by the sides and instead her actions have become bolder as they cup her chest, squeezing it as she throws her head back.

Rumi’s breathing becoming ragged as a soft moan leaves her lips. Head now resting on the top of the couch as she looks at Zoey through hooded eyes. “So pretty” She murmurs, fingers moving up to hold Zoey’s side. Greedy and hungry fingers reciprocate her actions moving deftly underneath the fabric of her shirt.

A soft gasp escaping her lips as she feels Zoey move her fingers up underneath the thin fabric of her shirt, squeezing and palming at her chest. “Zoe” Rumi’s eyebrows furrowed as her mouth slightly agape.

Her girlfriend growing needy as she tugs on the hems of her shirt. The streamer’s eyes following Rumi’s every movement, watching the shirt get discarded in an instant. And normally, Rumi would feel herself shrink underneath Zoey’s gaze, her face would burn up as she covered herself up, saying something along the lines of “don’t look”. But instead, Zoey’s met with Rumi’s brown orbs staring directly back at her, deft fingers running up and down her torse underneath the pyjama she has on.

“God” Zoey mutters, leaning in without skipping a beat as she plants kisses all over Rumi’s jaw, inching closer to her chest with each kiss. Rumi tilts her head in response, giving Zoey access as her hands find Zoey’s breasts; her expression flickering for a second as she realizes that the latter had nothing underneath her shirt.

The streamer leans back only to rip off her shirt in an instant, throwing it somewhere behind her, not minding the mess of clothes they’re making. For now, their minds and thoughts were heavily locked on one another. Fingers moving as if with practiced choreography, hooking her fingers behind her girlfriend and in an instant, Rumi’s bra was tossed off of her. Her pace never slowing down as she leaves a trail of open-mouthed kisses along her shoulders down to where Rumi needed her the most.

“Ah” Rumi closes her eyes, feeling the hot sensation of Zoey’s tongue running across her sensitive bud. “Zoe..” She heaves out, hands finding Zoey’s hair as she softly brings her impossibly closer.

Zoey looks up at Rumi never once breaking away from her face as she continues lapping up at her nipple, her free hand palming at her other. Rumi’s eyes remained close as her eyebrows furrow in pleasure, mouth slightly agape.  The streamer takes her time, alternating between the two, a satisfied smirk makes it ways it to her lips as she hears the soft and short moans leaving her girlfriend’s lips.

She lets it go with a ‘pop’ as she suddenly pulls back. Hands skillfully unbuckling the belt with ease as if this came to her like second nature. Rumi doesn’t even have the time to react when she feels a finger drag across her lips, pulling it down gently. Eyes opening to see Zoey grinding down on her; thumb slowly dragging across Rumi’s lips, as if asking for access. Rumi quick to reciprocate her actions, eagerly opening her mouth as she sucks down on the thumb.

“Good girl” Zoey mutters, voice low and eyes fixated on the girl beneath her, dragging her thumb across the soft tissues of Rumi’s tongue.

And Rumi, the ever so diligent girlfriend, preens at this as she continues sucking down on it until Zoey pulls away, replacing it in an instant with her index and middle finger. A gag echoes between them as she chokes on the unexpected length of her girlfriend’s fingers. Zoey pulls back her fingers slightly, keeping them still within the comfort of Rumi’s mouth, watching as she continues lapping at it and sucking onto it diligently.

Without warning, Zoey pulls it away, replacing her fingers with her lips as she presses her lips against Rumi’s. The latter quickly reciprocating the kiss as her fingers entangle with the streamer’s, tugging at it softly. Zoey lets out a moan in the kiss as she tilts her head back, fingers sneakily and skillfully making their way down to Rumi’s pants. Still soaked from Rumi’s saliva, she deftly inserts it underneath Rumi’s underwear, dragging it along her core.

A loud moan echoing between them as Rumi’s eyes roll back. “Zoey” Head tilting back as her eyes closed firmly at the sensation, mouth wide open as moans leave her lips—a melodic tune that Zoey just couldn’t get enough of.

Dragging her finger up and down, gathering as much slick as she could while her thumb presses flatly against her clit, rubbing it in a circular motion. Her knee no longer at the sides of Rumi’s hips and instead had planted it between Rumi’s hips, pushing her leg to the side, opening it as much with the confines of her jeans. Rumi lets out a mental stream of curses as she feels the jeans hinder her movements, but Zoey’s fingers felt too good against her that stopping simply wasn’t an option.

“Zoe” She moans out as her head remains resting on the top of the couch, looking up at the girl through hooded lids. Her hand shakily moving up to the streamer’s nape, pulling down on it. Zoey doesn’t need to be told twice as their press against each other, with each pull, it gets reciprocated sloppily. “Ah, close” Her breathing even more ragged as Zoey quickens her pace, easily inserting in a finger.

Rumi’s eyes roll back at the sensation. “God, Zoe” She breathes out. “Fuck”

Zoey presses down against her clit, rubbing at it as she continues her fluid motions of pushing it in and out despite the major restriction that Rumi’s jeans had brought her. Her lips pressing against Rumi’s jaw, leaving open-mouthed kisses along her collarbone down to her breast. The position is awkward and unbearable for Zoey, hunched over along the couch. But hearing the melodic noises of Rumi’s moans brought her renewed energy every time as she licks along her kisses, nipping down enough to leave marks on her chest and Rumi knows she has to wear a turtle neck at this rate but she couldn’t care less as she tugs on Zoey’s hair, encouraging the streamer.

“Ah, Zoe, Ahh” She feels another finger added and her mind slowly turning mush as she gets fucked to an oblivion by her hot girlfriend.  “Wait” Her senses slowly coming back to her as she feels the familiar tightening in her stomach. But Zoey doesn’t seem to listen as she continues on with her pace. “Zoe, fuck, wait wait wait I’m so close” Moans leaving her lips like a broken record as she throws her head back onto the sofa again. Then she feels the familiar snap.

A gush of liquid running down Zoey’s fingers as she slowly pumps in and out, helping Rumi ride down her high.

“You did so good—”

Zoey’s interrupted by Rumi yanking her arm away. The streamer doesn’t even get another word in as she’s lifted by the latter over and hoisted over her shoulder as she gets up. She can see the floor leading up to her bedroom as she gets carried from the living room with ease. Rumi kicks off her jeans along with her ruined panties, leaving a trail of mess for them to clean when they’ve both come back from their senses.

She throws Zoey onto the mattress, careful not to toss her over and possibly let her fall to the ground. Zoey yelps as her back hits the mattress, bouncing slightly with the force she was thrown onto it with. “Rums” Zoey’s cheery expression washed away in an instant as she sees the dark expression on Rumi’s face.

“Such a tease” Rumi mutters, not even minding how she’s fully naked in front of her girlfriend. Eyes darkening as they set their gaze down on Zoey that laid sprawled underneath her on the mattress. “And you don’t listen” Her voice coming out as a low growl as she pushes Zoey onto the mattress.

“Rums” Zoey calls out as she tries to sit up, but she instead instantly falls back down as she gets her pyjama bottoms yanked off of her along with her underwear. And in the same breath, her legs get hooked onto Rumi’s shoulder as the latter pulls her closer to her.

Not even wasting a second, Rumi presses her tongue against Zoey’s core, dragging it slowly across as she presses it flatly against it.

“Oh—fuck, Rumi!” Her back hitting the mattress as her hand flies to grip her girlfriend’s hair, tugging at it. “God, right there, baby”

Rumi eagerly laps up Zoey’s slick, not wanting to waste a drop as she quickens her pace. Her hand moving up to palm Zoey’s breast, playing with the bud. Tongue moving up and down sloppily as her girlfriend’s tugs become incessant and harder.

“Ugh, fuck, baby” A groan leaves Zoey’s lips as her free hand grips at the duvet tightly. She’d been putting on shows for months now, eagerly pleasing herself in front of the camera to show to thousands of viewers, yet nothing compared to the feeling she had right now with her girlfriend between her legs, lapping up and down her core.

Rumi stops as she sucks down hard on Zoey’s clit, her hands still fondling with her breast, squeezing and palming at it.

“Rumi, baby, so close” She tugs on Rumi’s purple locks, pulling her impossibly closer to her core; the place she never knew she needed her the most until today. She leans in slightly, her taut abs now wet with sweet and a mixture of Rumi’s slick from earlier. Her free hand gripping the sheet and holding her up for support as she leans down on Rumi.

And Rumi diligently follows Zoey’s silent orders, continuing on with her ministration, bringing her girlfriend closer and closer to the much needed release she’s kept pent up inside her.

Zoey lets go with a loud groan as she lets herself fall back down onto the mattress. Silence engulfing them both as they both drop onto the bed. The mattress lifting up slightly as Rumi drops beside her; the duvet sticking to their bodies as the room’s air becomes thick and hot.

“God” The silence gets broken between them by Zoey as she heaves out a sigh. Her chest still heaving up and down, matching her erratic breathing. She rolls over to her side. “You were so good, Rums”

“Really?” Rumi rolls over to meet Zoey’s gaze, fingers moving to push away the strand of hair that’s stuck to Zoey’s face. “Not as good as you, Zoe—I was seeing stars. God, is this what having a hot girlfriend feels like?”

Zoey preens at the compliment. Her sly demeanor surfacing within an instant. “Keep saying things like that and maybe I’d be up for another..” Her finger trailing up and down Rumi’s arm, just ghosting over it.

And just like that Rumi had come back to her senses fully as she feels her face heat up. “I, uh, we should rest” She excuses, her eyes darting to the clock by Zoey’s desk. “It’s midnight”

Zoey pouts, but she nods in response. They still had work tomorrow and staying up for some mind-blowing sex definitely sounded like a good contender against it, but the feeling of grogginess paired with the lost sleep was definitely not something Zoey was looking forward to.

“I’ll prepare a bath for you” Rumi says softly, not even waiting for Zoey’s response as she gets up and walks into Zoey’s bathroom.

After getting refreshed from their bath and changing into Zoey’s pyjamas (which Zoey had admitted that looked absolutely adorable on Rumi despite it being smaller in size on her), the two laid in bed, cuddled in each other’s arms.

Their conversation consist of Zoey’s long rambles about the systemic oppression their co-workers have been facing against their team leader Jinu, and of course, turtles. The whiplash their conversation brought made Rumi laugh. But she listens, often nodding along to Zoey while giving her response every once in a while.

Then Zoey looks at her with a look Rumi was unfamiliar with; frustrated and disappointed somehow mixed perfectly into one. “Rums” Frustration was definitely visible in her voice.

“Yes, Zoe?” Rumi replies as she looks at the streamer, rolling to her side to face her completely. Her elbow resting on the pillow while her head is leaning up against her palm, holding it up for support. While Zoey sits cross-legged in front of her.

“Can I tell you about...something?” She asks hesitantly. “It’s just something small but it’s frustrating me a lot that I just—” Another groan.

“Of course” Rumi replies without hesitation. A smile now plastered on her lips.

“Okay so you know I’m a streamer right”

Rumi freezes, swallowing thickly, but she nods as she acts as if she hadn’t known everything regarding her girlfriend’s streaming.

“And like I celebrated something recently because it hit like a milestone. It was good, y’know? Like my viewers were interacting with me and I was replying with them and it was smooth sailing until someone disrupts it” She rambles on, slowing down with the last few words, her eyes squinting slightly as if glaring at no one in particular. “And it just kind of pissed me off, y’know?”

Rumi acts calmly as if she wasn’t sweating bullets underneath the thick façade she put on that seemed to be also cracking at the seams.

“And like it was all good like I was still interacting with my viewers, answering their questions yada yada—then” Zoey’s mood shifts again, her eyes glaring pointedly. “They kept attacking this other viewer”

“Uh huh” Rumi hums in response as if she wasn’t losing it. Her palm was now drenched that if she even moved just slightly, her face would slip out of her own grasp.

“And what’s worse of all is that I know this viewer” Zoey rolls her eyes, shaking her head. “Unbelievable” She mutters as she drops down onto the mattress. “But y’know, it’s whatever” She mutters under her breath as she scoots closer to Rumi.

The purple-haired girl remains frozen in her position as she feels Zoey curl up against her.

“Could you get the lights, baby? Thank you”

Rumi just hums in response, face essentially drenched with sweat as she nods. She rolls over to the side, fingers shakily finding the switch by the nightstand before eventually switching it off.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Rumi feels like the world was out to get her. She didn’t need proof. Everything was just, well, laid out perfectly for her that it was all the proof that was needed.

The next day had rolled in and both her and Zoey had driven to work together on the account of Rumi borrowing some spare baggy clothes from Zoey that appeared baggy on the raven-haired girl but just the right fit for Rumi.

Work was anything but exciting unlike yesterday. It was back to the mundane and boring normal tasks they had to do, that’s if they had finished the paper works that was in line for them yesterday. Until the time came for Jinu to do his surprise as he stood in the middle of the office once more.

“So I’m sure you all are excited for my surprise”

Silence follows right after that Rumi swore a tumbleweed would roll over in the middle.

But this doesn’t let Jinu deter his good mood as he grins. “Without further ado, the surprise is a weekend seminar to be hosted by our sister company!”

Loud groans echoed throughout the crowd that’s gathered right by their team leader.

“I know I know, more work, aren’t you excited?” He beams up, but the crowd’s reaction begged to differ as they merely rolled their eyes or groaned in response.

“What does this have to do with us?” One of their co-workers speaks up.

“Yeah!” Another one chimes in.

Jinu lets out a long sigh as he rolls his eyes. “I was getting there” He grumbles. “Anyways, the HR is going to the seminar and has requested an employee to follow and join her during the event”

Suddenly, the crowd’s murmurs and mutters had instantly stopped as soon as those words left Jinu’s mouth.

“And I’ve decided, through sheer drawing of lots, that the employee going with her this Saturday and Sunday is…” He trails off, his hand mimicking a drum rolling act.

“Ryu Rumi!”

Chapter Text

Rumi stood frozen; her feet unwilling to move, mouth agape slightly, and eyes wide as if a deer caught in headlights. Ryu Rumi. His voice echoed throughout the quiet office. Her co-workers had turned their heads to look at her, pitiful expressions etched all over their face as they looked at the purple-haired girl.

Finger lifted up slightly until her chest as she pointed at herself. “Me?” Rumi asks, confused.

And Jinu, the ever so smug team leader, nods. Rumi can see the slight lift on the edge of his lips as it curls into the infamous smirk he has plastered on his lips every time. “Yes” He says, voice and tone slightly softer. And as if he had any worry or concern for his employees, his facial expressions shifts to that of a worried look. “I hope this isn’t too much burden for you, you know, having to work on the weekends” His hands clasped together as his lips tug downward into a frown; a display of faux concern.

Everyone knew that, even Rumi. Most of her co-workers hadn’t even batted an eye at him, just merely rolling their eyes or shaking their head in response to his sorry attempt at soothing Rumi for giving her unpaid overtime. And while Rumi wouldn’t have minded if it meant having Jinu off her back for the next month, she was absolutely terrified at the idea of having to spend the next two days being cooped up or next to Mira at all times. A chill ran through her spine at the thought.

Their team leader had flashed her a smirk, eyes glaring at her, before waltzing away into his office. They don’t even know why he had been so adamant about having his own personal office when he had barely done any work, but then again it was pretty much chalked up to wanting to show off his power so he can hold it over their heads. The crowd soon dispersed, and each went back to their won desks, flashing Rumi a sympathetic look as they passed her by.

While Zoey, as much as she had cared for her girlfriend deeply, had a different expression etched all over her face. Instead of the typical sympathetic look her co-workers had etched all over their faces, she had only looked at her deskmate with a flat expression. Lips pressed into a thin line, only slightly tugged downward as if she had been thinking deeply about their team leader’s words.

Rumi’s shoulder slump forward in defeat. It seemed like the world was against her and had to do everything in its power to make sure that she had the worst possible luck with the odds stacked against her. A defeated sigh rolls off her lips as she slowly makes her way to her shared desk.

Zoey’s train of thoughts immediately interrupted as she sees her girlfriend leaving for their desk. Hurriedly catching onto her by her quickening her pace. “Hey” Hand moving up to rub her girlfriend’s back, patting it as she scooted a bit closer. “Are you okay?”

The two stop by Rumi’s side of the desk with the purple-haired girl leaning her back against the desk, arms crossed as her lips pursed. With a soft shake of the head, she heaves out another sigh. “I feel like Jinu’s out to get me”

Zoey rolls her eyes at the mention of his name. “That…” She catches her own tongue as she spots the surveillance camera not far in the distance, instead resorting to silently cursing him out. “Whatever” She mutters, eyeing the surveillance camera before rubbing her girlfriend’s arm. “I’m sure that Jinu” She resorts to using his name in vain, making sure to say it as sharply as she could as she glares at his office.

Rumi giggles as she watches her girlfriend’s reaction to her situation.

“I’m sure he did draw lots but had placed a shit ton of your name” She jests, hoping it’ll at least alleviate some of the worry and sadness that had filled her. And it did when Rumi lets out another giggle.

“You’re right” She agrees, playing into Zoey’s little joke. A smile now etched on her lips as she looks at Zoey with renewed energy.

“Hey, we should hang out tonight” Zoey cheerily suggest, hand still on Rumi’s arm. “Since you’re leaving tomorrow anyways. I mean, if you want” She smiles, airing the suggestion out there for Rumi to take.

And Rumi immediately jumps on the idea, wanting a way to unwind and relax with her girl before she’s out to possibly have either the most boring weekend or have one that’ll be ingrained in her mind for the rest of her stay at work.

Zoey lets out a squeal as she hugs Rumi for a split second, only to pull away when she remembers their surroundings. “I, uh” She fixes her sweater as she pulls away, patting away the dust on her jeans, trying her best to act so casually as if she hadn’t been scared that she broke something on the code by accident (not that her and Rumi weren’t actively breaking the code by being together). But who was Zoey if not a person who loved to put on a show, especially in front of her work where she acted like they weren’t actively breaking a dozen codes at a time behind closed doors. “Will see you later after work?” She asks as if they hadn’t been sitting across from each other—only to be separated by a thick monitor in front of them.

“Yeah” Rumi grins, her cheeks burning up.

No words exchanged as the two lovers return to each of their seats, cheeks still burning up from the encounter. Zoey sits down on her desk as she starts tapping away, trying to chuck the distracting thoughts for a while until the clock hits closing hour. While Rumi? She tries to but fails when she almost drops to the ground as she misses her seat, her mind obviously elsewhere and too distracted to even focus.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

“I can’t believe you’re going away for the weekend” Zoey huffs as she curls up against Rumi. Two bodies pressed against each other in the comfort of the former’s apartment. The television is playing a film in the background that had both of them mildly interested in it; it’s just background static at this point, something to keep their surroundings from going dull.

Rumi’s chest lifts up slightly as she breathes in before dipping back down with a long and heavy sigh leaving her lips. Zoey can feel every moment of it as her head is pressed against her girlfriend’s chest. “I know, baby” Rumi mutters, disappointment very much visible in her voice. She couldn’t hide it at this point. She had been looking forward to spending it with her girlfriend playing or just hanging out in general, after all they already did plan it out—hell, she had been looking forward to spending it with anyone but her. Her hand softly rubbing Zoey’s arm as they both mindlessly watch the film playing in front of them.

“We should get to bed” Zoey murmurs lazily against Rumi’s chest. A yawn escaping her lips as she stretches her arm a bit. She pushes herself off with the help of the couch, hand firmly planted on the space beside Rumi, pulling away from their embrace. “You’re still going to work tomorrow” Her lips curled downward into a pout.

It’s cute and irresistible that Rumi knows would work all the time with her. So she nods in response, hypnotized by her girlfriend’s adorable expression.

Zoey’s pout instantly changed into a grin as she clasps her hands. “Come” She urges as she gets up, dragging Rumi along by the arm into the bedroom.

And Rumi, being the good and diligent girlfriend that she is, lets herself get dragged along as she follows the short girl into the bedroom. Plopping down onto the bed with a soft thud as she softly bounces on the mattress. Zoey lets go of her only to disappear by her closet for a few moments before she reappears before Rumi with two sets of pyjamas.

“Here, I got you a purple set” Zoey excitedly says as she hands her a fresh pair of pyjamas.

Rumi gladly takes it, inspecting it slightly as she unfolds it. “You really did” Rumi replies, her lips tugged up into a smile as she holds it up.

“Do you like it?” Zoey asks, already halfway through discarding her work clothes, eyes staring straight at her girlfriend.

“I do!” Rumi giggles as her eyes dart from the pyjama she’s holding up to Zoey, who’s now very much naked in front of her. Rumi’s eyes widen as she looks away in an instant; face flushed and embarrassed.

Zoey just giggles in response, hand already reaching out to grab her set of pyjama that she’s laid down on the edge of the bed. “You’re acting as if you haven’t seen this before” Making a subtle gesture at her body before pulling over the loose top over her head.

Her words accidentally having a double entendre that only Rumi had realized as the words echo throughout her mind over and over. Right. She had seen it before. Once in the comfort of Zoey’s apartment and a few times on the shady website she streams on. It’s not like Rumi’s intended on actually watching her streams purely for that intention. The purple-haired girl liked to convince herself and anyone who even had the slightest idea of her actions that she had been doing that for the shake of keeping Zoey safe and well, trying to somehow uncover if the person she had been suspecting to be Zoey’s top donor was someone she had known very well.

By the time Rumi had even begun to strip down, Zoey was already tucked in her side of the bed, watching her girlfriend’s every move. Rumi’s too busy in her actions to even notice Zoey’s no longer standing beside her and instead was in the bed in front of her; her hands still busy trying to find the neck hole for her shirt as she flips around vigorously. “Where is it?” She mumbles as she moves the shirt around, only to be taken out of her train of thoughts by a whistle.

Rumi jumps up as she holds the shirt up; a flimsy attempt at trying to cover her body as she looks at her girlfriend with wide eyes. Zoey just giggles in response as she blows a kiss at Rumi. The latter annoyed but her cheeks flaring up at the interaction. She finally finds the hole and pulls her the new pyjama set over her head before crawling up on the bed to join Zoey.

“Hey” She says once she’s up next to the raven-haired girl. She leans in and plants a chaste kiss on her cheek before pulling the duvet over them. “Thanks for letting me sleep over”

Zoey scoots closer. Her eyes admiring the way Rumi looks underneath the dim lighting of the night sky right outside their window. “Of course, babe” Zoey mutters, lips still pressed up into a smile. She reaches over, pushing away a purple strand of hair that’s fallen down on her face. “I’ll miss you”

“It’ll be two days” Rumi lets out a soft laugh. Eyes boring into Zoey’s brown ones.

Her girlfriend just rolls her eyes in response. “Whatever” Zoey teasingly says with faux annoyance visible in her voice.

“I’m kidding!” Rumi instantly replies, scared she had accidentally pissed her off.

Zoey breaks down into a short fit of giggles. “I’m kidding too” She sticks her tongue out. “Just wish we could’ve hung out”

“We can blame Jinu for that” Rumi replies, her voice flat at the mention of the team leader that seemed to either be the devil reincarnate or own of his devilish spawns that came on Earth to do one thing and one thing only—to annoy the hell out of Rumi and Zoey.

“We can” Zoey breathes out, laughing. “Say hi to Mira for me” She sleepily says, a yawn leaving her lips as she curls up to Rumi, nuzzling into her neck as her arms stay wrapped around her waist.

Rumi’s eyes widen at the mention of the HR. For a moment she had forgotten all about her and how she was bound to her for the entire weekend. But just for a moment, as she looks down at Zoey curled up against her with her arm around Rumi, she let the thought slip away from her mind. That was for future Rumi to worry about. For now, she had just basked in the comfort of being in her girlfriend’s arms as she wraps her arm over Zoey and plants a kiss on top of the latter’s head.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Saturday couldn’t have come any faster. The sun’s rays seeping in the cracks of the curtains hitting Rumi straight at her face. She winces in response, lifting her free hand to groggily rub her eyes as a yawn leaves her lips. One glance at the clock was all the indication she needed for the fact that it was indeed Saturday. 7:25 AM. It read.

Rumi feels a heavy weight dip on top of her. She looks down with a smile etched on her lips. Her girlfriend had still been sleeping peacefully on top of her just as she was since last night albeit now drooling slightly. Rumi leans in and plants a kiss on the top of the raven-haired girl’s head before doing her best to squeeze her way out of the embrace as best as she could. Zoey only sleepily murmurs about something while shifting slightly in the sheets, hands already instinctively grasping at the pillow to replace the space occupied by her girlfriend.

Rumi heaves out a sigh of relief as she manages to maneuver her way out of the sheets and out to the kitchen where she whips up an egg for her and for Zoey when she wakes up. Then the purple-haired girl goes about her way in the apartment to prepare for her departure. Taking a quick shower and changing into yesterday’s clothes before going back to the kitchen to hastily eat the egg she’s whipped up. She checks her watch once she’s finished cleaning up the kitchen. 7:48 AM.

Another sigh leaves her lips as she comes to a realization that the time she’d have to spend entirely with Mira was fast approaching and that meant she had to be by the office soon before their actual office hours.

With heavy feet, she drags herself into the bedroom where she heavily resists the urge to just throw herself back onto the mattress where she’d drape Zoey’s arms around her body and nuzzle into her girlfriend’s neck. But of course, Rumi didn’t have time and nor did she have the liberty since their ever-loving team leader had assigned her a job and task to do for the entirety of the weekend. She stands by the edge admiring the way Zoey’s peacefully sleeping before leaning and pressing a kiss on her cheek.

Zoey stirs slightly in her sleep before slowly waking up. “Rumi?” She asks, her voice filled and heavy with sleep. “Where are you going?”

“It’s almost eight” Rumi replies, still leaning over the bed, hand pressed onto the bed for support. “I have to go”

Zoey lets out a small whine before propping herself up using her elbows. “Do you really have to?”

It’s a rhetorical question that has Rumi wondering. Does she really have to?

Zoey adds to it by jesting, “I mean can’t you just talk to Mira about it? I’m sure she’s grown fond of you”

And of you too. Rumi wants to say, but that was an uncomfortable conversation waiting to happen. So instead Rumi just offers her girlfriend a sad smile as she leans in and presses her lips against Zoey’s.

A pout is etched on Zoey’s lips as they both pull away.

“There’s eggs by the island. I’ll come here after the event” Rumi grins as she gets back up.

And in an instant, Zoey’s face lights up as she hears Rumi’s words.

The purple-haired girl waves at her girlfriend before hurriedly making her way out, basically bolting to the parking lot. She had less then fifteen minutes to grab clothes from her apartment before rushing back to the office.

Rumi rushes in her car and hits the gas as she makes her way into the highway, basically zooming past the few cars on the highway. And she was sure that if there had been officers stationed by the corners of every intersection that she would’ve garnered at least ten different street violations. But Rumi had actually been a lot more terrified of their pink-haired HR officer than any other traffic enforcer.

Once at her apartment, Rumi doesn’t waste time just chucking in shirts into a duffel bag along with her work ID. She changes into a new set of jeans and shirts before dashing down towards the parking lot and hopping back into her car. She doesn’t waste time turning on her car and pressing on the pedal again, sparing a glance at her dashboard she sees the time flash before her. 7:52 AM.

Rumi was sweating bullets at this rate. The only thing going her way was the fact that there had been less cars than usual on the roads ahead, easily maneuvering past the road before pulling into her work’s parking lot with barely even any time to spare. Rushing in with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder, Rumi momentarily stops by the entrance to fish out her work ID and fix up her shirt. She taps her ID before walking inside.

The office, unlike any other workday, had been dead silent with the lights off. The only source of light was the faint light by the elevator, as if beckoning her to come any closer and lead her to the place where she’s needed. She does a once-over of the place before eventually making her way to the elevator and pressing the button.

The elevator unsurprisingly quickly makes its way to the top floor. Only distinction now was the lack of the assistant greeting Rumi by the elevator, often telling her good luck before she’s forced to walk inside. Now it’s just Rumi and her alone in the top floor—in the whole building even, save for the security guard.

Her feet drag her up until the glass doors that led to her office. And for a moment, Rumi contemplates stepping inside. Why did it have to be me? A silent whine followed by mentally cursing out Park Jinu for deciding her fate. She knew that the only solution to ever fighting against Jinu had to be a coup d'état, to which would translate in their office as mass filing HR complaints against him, which wasn’t exactly ideal if you wanted to be on her good side—that just meant more paperwork for her and more paperwork for her meant angry HR and angry HR meant angry Jinu which would just actually make the whole thing blow up in Rumi’s face.

So after finally ending the short debate in her mind, Rumi finally comes to term with her fate and with heavy feet she drags herself inside, pushing past the glass doors.

There’s soft clicking of heels behind the divider that stop abruptly as they hear the glass doors open. Then the clicking gets louder until it stops right by the divider.

Rumi looks up and sees the pink-haired boss leaned up against the divider; arms crossed against her chest while donning on a sundress compared to her typical pencil skirt and vest. A surprised facial expression etched all over her face. “I didn’t expect you to be assigned to the weekend seminar” She says, her voice not as sharp as it usually sounds.

Me too. Rumi wants to say but she just presses her lips into a thin line as she nods, hand on the duffel bag while the other inside her pocket. “Park Jinu drew lots”

“Ah” is all she replies as she nods. “Great. Let’s go” She disappears into the other side of the divide only to reappear a few seconds later with a pouch slung over her shoulder.

“Did you bring your car?” Mira asks as the two of them make their way to the elevator.

“Yes, Miss” Rumi replies, the same nervous feeling she usually feels around her now washing over her once again when she realizes she’s confined in the same small space as the HR. Her eyes darting and roaming around the elevator as she grips tightly onto her duffel bag, not because she was scared it’d be stolen—hell, Mira could most likely afford thrice the value of everything in it—but because she had been nervous and her palms are clammy. Only thing that could ease her right now is gripping it as hard as she could.

Ding!

“Leave it”

“The car?” Rumi blinks, following right behind the pink-haired woman as the exit the elevator and make their way into the parking lot.

“Yes” And somehow Mira was back to her one-worded replies that Rumi had absolutely loathed because one, it felt demeaning and made her feel like a dog, and two, she was sure and determined to pry past the tough shell of Mira’s façade that she had just loved to put up even though the thought of it all had terrified Rumi to death.

And as if reading Rumi’s mind, Mira says, “The guard will be here all weekend and if there’s even a scratch or dent then I’ll cover the cost”

The two of them make their way to the corner of the parking lot where Mira’s silver sports car had been parked.

Rumi’s mouth is dry, so she just nods in response as she stops by the passenger seat while Mira walks over to the driver sir, her movement languid yet sharp. “Get in”

This is so humiliating. Rumi thinks despite her body acting opposite of how she feels. She opens the passenger side door with ease and lets herself inside, plopping down onto the car seat with the duffel bag on her lap.

Silence envelops them as usual, but unlike the usual typical four walls in Mira’s small office, instead it’s within the confinements of the HR’s silver sports car that Rumi hadn’t notice was small, quite smaller, in the inside.

The roads stretch on for ends on the highway with barely any cars in sight. It made sense; they were on the industrial side of their city so most of the residents had either been sleeping in or just lounging around in the comfort of their home. Something Rumi had so desperately wanted as well.

“Have you eaten?”

Rumi grips the duffel bag as she wonders about Mira’s question. Why had she suddenly sprung the question on her?

“Breakfast” Mira adds when Rumi doesn’t reply. Her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as her eyes flicker between the rearview and side mirrors. “There’s a fast food chain up in the next few meters. It’ll be a while until we get to the hotel”

Rumi debates answering Mira’s question honestly. On one hand, she had already eaten back at her girlfriend’s apartment. But on the other hand, it was her own cooking and that meant she barely even ate any of it, not that the egg was filling enough with all the running around she’d been doing. But before she could muster a response, her body does for her—with an embarrassingly loud growl too.

Mira stifles back a small chuckle. She eyes the rearview mirror and says, “Guess I got my answer” She makes a sharp turn to the fast food’s drive thru lane.

Rumi just watches from the passenger side as Mira starts listing out her order, not that she did have anything to add. She’s already learned from their last encounter at the ramen stall to not make a fuzz and just let her boss do as she pleases.

Soon enough their orders were handed to them and they were back on the road.

What Rumi hadn’t really expected was the amount of take-out Mira would actually order. She had tuned her out while saying her order, her mind elsewhere as she fidgets with her fingers to pass the time and ease the stress she felt. But now it felt like she had felt even more stress than earlier when her lap is filled with take out bags while her duffel bag was pushed down to her feet to make even more space.

“You can eat whenever you want” Mira’s eyes dart to the dashboard. “It’s still maybe an hour or so until we get there” Her eyes flicker back to the road ahead, hands now a bit lax on the steering wheel as they leave their city.

“Thank you, miss” Rumi replies as if Mira hadn’t just ordered food enough to feed their office.

“So why did you come?”

There’s a bit of a lull before Rumi manages to fix up an answer in her mind and starts speaking up. “Because Jinu assigned it to me…?” She answers hesitantly, eyes too scared to even face her boss.

Mira’s lips tug upward. “I had told him it was optional and if there was no one willing then it would’ve been fine”

Rumi swore that by the time she would hold that damn coup d'état even if it meant that it would cycle back to her getting more work in the end—she didn’t care, she had just needed Jinu’s downfall to begin.

“Well, it was a nice way to spend the weekend. Gets you out of the house and network” A lie. A blatant lie by Ryu Rumi. It was NOT a nice way to spend her weekend; she had very much rather preferred still being underneath the comfort of Zoey’s duvet and blanket while having Zoey’s arms draped over her while wearing Zoey’s pyjamas. Networking wasn’t also in Rumi’s best interest. Hell, she wouldn’t even be caught dead interacting with anyone from their sister company, even more so at their own company unless it was Zoey.

Mira hums intelligently, hands still on the steering wheel.

There’s another lull in the air, the tension palpable that Rumi feels the density of the air get heavy. Rumi had sworn that it was so thick she could’ve cut it with a knife.

“Any plans for the weekend, Miss Ryu? Before this, that is”

“Please call me Rumi” Rumi replies, an awkward chuckle leaving her lips. “I, uh—” She abruptly stops as she remembers her encounter with Mira with the sudden reading of the code and before she could spill on her plans on hanging out with her deskmate, Rumi just replies something mundane like lounging around in her living room.

Mira just nods in response and suddenly the air is thick once again and they’re enveloped by silence with only the steady hum of the engine being the only noise that echoed between them.

“How about you, Miss?” Rumi asks, anything to alleviate the tension between them.

“Please just call me Mira” She replies, a smile on her lips as she mimics Rumi’s words.

Rumi lets out a small chuckle as she feels the air slowly becoming lighter and suddenly it’s not like she’s caged in a small space with Mira.

“And no. I haven’t really had anything planned. Maybe would’ve gone to Jeju”

“Jeju?!” Rumi asks flabbergasted. It’d been miles away from their place that the fastest way there was by plane.

“Yes” Mira replies calmly. “I find it fun and relaxing to be there over the weekends”

Her reply leaving a lasting implication that sit with Rumi that this was in fact not Mira’s first time going there for a day or two maybe only to come back home in time for work.

“Must be nice” Rumi replies, her head pressed up against the headrest.

“You haven’t gone there?” Mira asks, the genuine confusion in her voice visible.

“N-no, I’ve been there” Another awkward chuckle leaves her lips. “It’s just a bit too expensive for me” Another lie. Rumi was a trust fund baby but her ego and pride had prevented her from even touching or grabbing any amount off of the card left to her by her mothers. “Maybe over the holidays”

“Mhm” Mira nods. “I think it wouldn’t be best over the holidays. There’s always an influx of tourists” A long and dragged out sigh leaves Mira, which to Rumi, had felt uncharacteristic of her.

“Maybe next weekend!” Rumi jests, laughing right after. “I-I’m kidding” She adds when she notices Mira’s looking at her with a genuine look of excitement.

“I could pay for your airfare” Mira casually replies as if she hadn’t been offering a lot to Rumi right now.

“N-no, it’s fine, Mis—Mira” The name rolling off of Rumi’s lips leaving an unfamiliar feeling. She had never once referred to her by her name unless it was preceded by an honorific.

“You could take it as a compensation for devoting your weekend to the company.”

Again Rumi’s reminded of how the entire activity had been completely optional, but of course, Park Jinu had graciously omitted that in his announcement to the employees and instead had made it look out to be something akin to the Hunger Games’ reaping. But the comparison of Mira’s concept of compensations baffles Rumi. She’s learned from their encounter today that it could mean “a ramen dinner” or “a free back and forth airfare to Jeju Island over the weekend”, both of which had different varying magnitudes to them.

“It’s alright, Mira” Rumi insists before Mira could even somehow pull up tickets and actually book them for her. Then there was also the implication of how not only would Rumi go to Jeju, but Mira would also tag along because of course she’s already buying tickets for someone, why not just include herself too? Rumi feels a chill run through her spine.

“Okay” Mira replies which eases Rumi as she relaxes into the seat.

The purple-haired employee sits comfortably in the passenger side as she looks out the window, watching another city come to view as they sped away. Her eyes fluttering as a yawn leaves her lips, not even minding how sleep had been slowly washing over her.

“We’re near” Mira announced.

Rumi jolts up in the passenger seat, not even realizing that she had accidentally fell asleep. She looks around and sees a massive luxurious building in front of them.

Mira starts unbuckling her seatbelt while Rumi mirrors her actions, or at least tries to with the amount of paper bags in her arms. Mira, once she’s done with hers, grabs some of the paper bags in Rumi’s arms.

“Thanks” Rumi mutters as she successfully unbuckles her seatbelt and removes it completely, grabbing the remaining paper bags and duffel bag before leaving the car. She trails behind Mira closely, not wanting to get lost especially since her car was nowhere to be seen, never mind that it was also a completely different city.

Guests had been gathered by the reception area of the hotel, each with their own bags and some even with their suitcases. Mira doesn’t waste any time socializing or even interacting with the guests, who by the looks of their attires were attendees from their sister company. Jesus how many were there? Rumi thinks as she looks around, almost bumping into Mira in the process. She abruptly stop when she realizes she’s just right behind the tall pink-haired woman.

“Where’s the other key?” Rumi manages to hear Mira say despite the noise coming from the crowd of guests not far from the reception desk.

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I’m afraid we’re short-staffed and….” Curse the guests for being so loud that Rumi can barely even hear Mira that was somehow only a few inches away from her.

“So you mean to say that….” She couldn’t hear the rest, not with the commotion. But she can hear the annoyance and…anger? in Mira’s voice. Rumi wasn’t quite sure where it fell on the scale of her boss’ temper. She had been lucky enough not to feel her full wrath and instead had been let off easy with warnings.

Rumi’s pulled out of her train of thoughts when Mira turns on her heels. A flat expression on her face as she grips onto the paper bags and her pouch.

“Let’s go” Mira’s quick on her heels as the two of them make their way to the elevators.

Rumi follows right behind diligently like the employee she was. The elevator doors closing in on the two of them as Mira taps a button. The air is heavy and filled with tension so thick it was palpable. Suddenly it felt as if she was back in Mira’s car and she’s back at step one again with trying to chip away at Mira’s façade. Her eyes wander the small elevator, doing her best to busy herself so she doesn’t explode with how heavy the air felt. A number flashed right above the buttons, changing every second until it stopped. 9. Rumi wonders had the rooms gotten better with each floor or had it been the opposite.

She’d soon get her answer when she and her pink-haired boss walk over to what was seemingly the end of the hallway. Mira taps the card against the door’s security system and watched it glow green before unlocking. To Rumi’s delight, the room had been fully stocked with a large flat screen television hung in front of the bed and a bathroom that not only had a shower but also had a bathtub paired with it. So it did get better with each floor. She answers her own question. But to her horror, Mira had only turned around and told her that there hadn’t been another room available and so they’re instead moved to another room with two beds.

And Rumi, had this been with anyone else, would march down to the receptionist and demand that they fix it and say how she wouldn’t leave until done so. But this was Mira and Rumi had to be on her best behavior in turn of Mira being in a good mood.

“I’ll book us another hotel—”

“It’s fine, Mis—er—Mira” Rumi butts in. “I don’t mind” She walks into the room, eyeing it a bit better now that she’s no longer in the small hallway before the door.

“Really?” Mira asks, her voice having a glint of hope. “It’s not normally like this. My assistant must’ve not checked in with the hotel yesterday” Annoyance heavy in her voice.

“Yes” Rumi reassures her, nodding. Her hands still holding onto the paperbags and duffel bag.

“Great” Mira replies. “You can place the food down by the desk”

Rumi nods as she follows Mira’s instructions and places down the paper bags by the desk next to the television.

“Get your things ready. We’ll be joining the seminar in a while below”

Rumi nods again, remembering how this isn’t a spontaneous getaway with her boss but instead was a work-related matter. She grabs her phone before following right behind Mira, who had already been waiting by the door.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The seminar had been anything but fun. Productive was one thing that it was, but definitely not fun. But if it meant somehow appeasing their god at the office that they call Mira, it was definitely worth it. Rumi felt herself become drained and sucked dry with all the interactions she had to do, not even keeping count anymore of all the times she had gone and said “I’m Ryu Rumi, Jeong Mira’s assistant” which she was most definitely not. But it was easier than having to explain how she’s merely a low level employee at work and not Mira’s actual assistant because then that’d be another minute of interaction and one thing Ryu Rumi was not built for was to socialization that lasted more than a minute—her girlfriend, sure she was definitely built for stuff like that. But not Rumi.

The thought of Zoey had even slipped Rumi’s mind as she barely texts with her throughout the event, scared that Mira might catch her and question her. So Rumi’s barely been in touch with her girlfriend and Zoey had thankfully reassured her during the small timeframe where they actually do manage to message each other that she was fine and she had understood Rumi’s situation.

Now that the two were back in their hotel room and night had finally rolled in, Rumi finally had the time to be on her phone as she continues her conversation with her girlfriend that had been halted earlier with the scare that Mira would catch her being distracted on her phone rather than having her full attention at the event happening in front of them.

8:53 PM
Zoey 💚
how was the seminar babe?
was it fun :)

Me
no :(
so many old businessmen just talking with mira and shaking her hand
it was so boring
and ur not here too :(

Zoey 💚
aww my baby
ill get someone to throw a curse at jinu one of these days
>:(

Rumi lets out a small giggle as she reads the messages from her girlfriend.

“Having fun?”

Rumi’s finger slips at the sudden noise. The messaging app exited by accident with a glide of her finger as she jolts at the noise. Her attention shifting from the phone in her hands to her boss that’s standing by the end of the hallway. Hair wet and dripping slightly as she pats it down with a towel.

“Sort of” Rumi replies, not knowing how to go about with Mira’s question.

“That’s good to hear” Mira replies, her hair wrapped around a towel she tosses neatly up her head. Even with the most mundane of things Mira still has to somehow have elegance in it, Rumi thinks. “I know earlier had to be exhausting” She sits down on the edge of her bed, donning on a pink silk pyjama set.

“It kinda was” Rumi admits as she sits up, propping herself up with her elbows. Her phone now set down somewhere by her side. She totally had to make it up to Zoey the moment she gets home from the seminar.

Mira breathes out a small chuckle as she nods. “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to compensate you for this—”

“It’s fine, Mis—er—Mira” Rumi waves her hands dismissively. “It really is fine”

Mira purses her lips as she nods. “You’re an odd one, Rumi”

Rumi tilts her head in response as she looks at Mira, as if silently asking a question at her for her comment.

“Usually whenever I would say that employees would accept it without second thoughts”

“Right” Rumi awkwardly chuckles as she scratches her nape, her eyes looking at anywhere but at Mira’s.

Silence fills the room again and Rumi just knows even without sparing a glance at Mira that the latter has her eyes boring into her. She can actually feel her gaze burn a hole at the side of her skull as an awkward tension fills the gap between them again.

“Do you think I’m scary, Rumi?” Her voice soft and fragile unlike the usual sharp tone she holds her words with, that it actually surprises Rumi.

“N-no..” Rumi hesitantly replies, not for the fact that she’s doubting her answer, but rather for the content of her question. Why had she even asked that? Rumi wonders. Maybe she’d been aware of the employee’s comments about her? Rumi presses her lips into a thin line. Her gaze moving to meet Mira’s, which had now been looking down at the bed on the space beside Rumi. “No, I don’t think you’re scary, Mira” She replies.

Mira nods in response. And Rumi’s just left to wonder if she had found her answer to be exactly what she had been looking for or had it been the exact opposite of it. “I always knew I was kind of a terror to be with at work” Her voice a bit sullen as a sad expression is etched all over her face.

There’s a lull in the air for a moment. Rumi doesn’t know how to break it or what to say even in this matter. Mira looked…sad, like the façade she had carefully been building and putting on everyday at work now just breaking at the seams.

“Never knew about it until earlier when I saw their boss interact with some of the employees” Her lips press into a thin line as her eyes bore into Rumi’s.

“I don’t think you should compare yourself to them” Rumi softly says, trying to gauge the situation. And Mira, she doesn’t respond or even tilt her head in slight amusement. Instead, she just stares at Rumi with her lips pressed together and a flat expression etched all over her face. “Just because they seem extremely close with their employees doesn’t always mean that behind closed doors” Rumi continues, making sure to be careful with her words. Oddly, it felt freeing to be able to speak to Mira without the pressure of being confinements of her small office where you were subject to her gaze. This Mira was different; she was bare of any make-up and façade she had put up. Her strong and sharp-willed demeanor suddenly gone as if it had vanished without a trace. “You’re a really great boss in your own way even if we don’t show that. I think they’re just pent up with all the work that’s being handed to them.” You can thank Jinu for that. Rumi wants to add but decides to bite her tongue. “Maybe a little incentive would keep the ball rolling and have them loosen up”

Mira doesn’t lash out or vents at Rumi but instead just nods. Her lips slowly curling up into a small smile. “Thank you, Rumi”

“It’s nothing” Rumi replies as she flashes Mira a smile. “I hope that wasn’t too much”

“No no” Mira replies, shaking her head slightly. “It was perfect actually” She takes off the towel off her head. Her pink hair falling down onto her shoulders, now a bit drier than earlier. “I’ll take note of that.”

“Normally” Mira adds as she throws the towel onto the chair beside her bed. “Sleeping with each other while being in the same company is strictly against code” She rolls over to her side, facing Rumi. “But for tonight, I’ll make an exception” She jests, winking.

And normally for anyone it’d be a lighthearted joke of double entendres, but for Rumi it had been a comment that had her left shaken and scared as Mira turns off the night lamps. Right, it was strictly against code. Because for her, it was like a painful reminder of how her and Zoey were something that was just not meant to be, not especially with their work.  

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The next day rolled in and by the crack of dawn, Rumi and Mira had both been up. Rumi had been surprisingly woken up a bit later than Mira, despite setting her alarm lightyears before the time Mira had said she would wake up.

After the two had finished preparing, they had headed down for the seminar by the hotel’s function hall. Rumi was sure to hell that she had prepped herself in front of the mirror during her bath that she was prepared for anything that was bound to happen at the last day of the seminar. It would supposedly end around six and have a little gathering before everyone would leave for their own homes. But six couldn’t have come faster.

To say Rumi was overwhelmed was an understatement to say the least. She felt like her head was about to explode trying to catch up with everything happening around her and it had only been two in the afternoon. There were still four more hours until they could finally head back for home. She had sneaked away to bathroom outside the function hall to sneak a message at her girlfriend, feeling like it’d be the only thing that’d help her right now.

So as Rumi’s locked herself in the small bathroom, she fishes out her phone and starts messaging with Zoey. And for a few moments, Rumi actually feels the most calm she’s felt since the moment she’s opened her eyes today.

2:31 PM
Zoey 💚
aww my baby
ill cook you up something when you come home :)
what do you want for dinner?

Rumi smiles as she looks at the message, her fingers idly standing by the corners of her phone as she thinks up a response.

It takes her a while before she manages to think off a reply to Zoey’s message and as she’s typing, a loud knock takes her out of her the peaceful state she’s been in for the last two minutes. Her fingers slip and move around the screen. “J-just a minute” Rumi calls back out, her voice a bit soft.

But the knocking doesn’t stop so she hastily types up a response to Zoey before hitting send, not even taking the time to look down on her phone as she does so. She’s in a hurry as she quickly pockets her phone and makes her way out the comfort room, passing by an irritated guest that pushes right past her.

Rumi heaves out a sigh as she makes her way back into the function hall as her eyes scan around, trying to look for Mira. She would most likely get an earful from her had she realized that Rumi had been missing for the past few minutes. And Rumi does so, she accidentally bumps into another guest.

“O-oh my god, I am so sorry” Rumi says as she helps the guest up as they almost tumble back down.

“It’s fine” She lets out a small laugh in response as she back up on her feet with the help of Rumi. “I was busy writing something up” She picks up the clipboard that had fallen down to the ground.

Rumi, upon hearing that, silently lets out the longest sigh of relief. The guest she had accidentally bumped into wasn’t a higher up but rather just another assistant just like her. “Really sorry” Rumi apologizes again, her eyes subtly darting around to try and find the familiar pink hair that she’s been trying to find for the past few minutes. It’s pink, how is she not sticking out like a sore thumb as usual?

“It’s really fine” She smiles at her as she extends her hand. “Sumin”

“Nice to meet you, Sumin” Rumi takes her hand and shakes it firmly. “Rumi”

“I really hope I’ll see you at the gathering later” Sumin shyly says as she flashes Rumi a smile. “It’d be nice to get to know you even more”

“You won’t.” The two turn their heads to the source of the voice. Rumi could go blind this instant and she’d still figure out who that voice belonged to. It was sharp and held its own command. “We’ll be leaving early” Mira adds as she walks closer until she’s by her purple-haired employee’s side, standing closer than usual to her employee. Brown orbs eyeing the sister company’s employee up and down, not even caring to make it subtle.

She lets out an awkward chuckle. “I’m sorry, who are you?” Sumin asks as she grips the clipboard in her hands.

“You work for Kang Industries, and you don’t know who I am?” It’s the first time Rumi’s heard Mira show even the slightest amount of cockiness or anything akin to it.

Sumin lets out a scoff as she shakes her head. “If I did then it must’ve slipped my mind. I find irrelevant knowledge to be unimportant, so it gets disregarded” Her tone sharp as she eyes Mira back.

And in the heat of it all, Rumi feels her phone buzz in her back pocket. Her eyes dart between the two as she subtly picks it out of her pocket and slides to unlock it, only to discover to her horror of her actions.

Her fingers shaking as she feels the world spinning around her. The two women arguing becoming background static for her as she looks down at her phone.

Tuesday
❁strawberry_princess❁ ⚪
i don’t need you to defend me

golden_huntrx ⚪
im just looking out for you

❁strawberry_princess❁ ⚪
of course you are
you and her are just the same
what makes you think you’re not just like her

golden_huntrx ⚪
because i want to protect you

❁strawberry_princess❁ ⚪
from what?
i can defend myself perfectly

golden_huntrx ⚪
i’m sorry
that j_j_jjajeongmyeon person isnt who u think she is

❁strawberry_princess❁ ⚪
oh trust me
I know

Sunday
golden_huntrx 🟢
baby jst gviee me a mowmnt

❁strawberry_princess❁ 🟢
??

Chapter Text

The world is spinning around her, and the tension is palpable that Rumi feels like she’s drowning despite the air around her. With shaky hands, she closes her phone and tucks it away on her back pocket. The two women’s bickering in front of her had subsided which turned into a heated stare down.

“Uh” Rumi’s mouth is parched and the lump on her throat makes it harder for her to speak. But she swallows thickly as she grabs hold of Mira’s arm gently. It’s the first she’s ever had physical contact with Mira and at her own hands too, which if she hadn’t been too preoccupied with the thought of her relationship crumbling before her because of one slip-up, would’ve surprised her. But Rumi couldn’t exactly care less in the situation. Her body and mind, as if separated in this moment, acted on its own, doing whatever she could to ease the overwhelming feeling that flowed heavily in her veins. “We should go” Rumi says, interrupting the two women before something actually happens between the two. She tugs on Mira’s arm gently again despite the pink-haired boss’ unwilling nature to move.

Mira glares at Sumin once more, her eyes practically burning holes into her eyes and pierced everything in the way of her gaze, before walking away with Rumi.

The purple-haired girl eventually lets go of her boss as she walks beside her, trying to match and keep up with Mira’s long strides. The event is still in full-swing and guests had been roaming around the function hall, trying their best to network with one another after the seminar’s had ended. It was only three in the afternoon at this point, but Rumi swore time moved so slow every minute felt like an hour. All she wanted to do was to pack her things and bolt out of here—she didn’t care anymore if it’d be a couple of miles until her apartment or Zoey’s, she just needed to be gone from here. The thought of the latter filled her mind again as she feels a buzz in her pocket. That was still something she had to deal with, but for now, she had to deal with the one thing she can actually control in the moment.

“What was that?” Rumi asks eventually when they’re far away from their previous spot with the brunette that Mira had willingly terrorized. The room was loud as the guests were chatting with one another, not even trying their best to keep to themselves. But in the corner of the room where she and Mira had walked to, it felt like they were in a completely different spot from the event. There was barely any noise, as if drowned out by the deafening silence that surrounded the two as Rumi tries to address the major issue that had just occurred.

Mira stops in her steps. Her eyes staring down at the purple-haired employee, her cherry painted lips pressed down into a thin line, while her arms crossed against her chest. No words were exchanged between the two for a good few seconds until the HR starts to speak up, clearing her throat first. “Where were you?” Her pink eyebrows knit together, an angry expression now etched all over her face. It wasn’t an unfamiliar scene not especially in their office hence why the employees were deathly afraid of her.

But to Rumi, it was. She had barely seen Mira angry first-hand. The most that she’s seen Mira show a display of ill feelings was her being annoyed at the front desk just yesterday—even then it had felt dull and toned down compared to what Mira was portraying in front of her now as her chest is heaving up and down slightly while her arms remained crossed against her chest. “I—uh—bathroom” Rumi squeaks out, shrinking against the HR’s angry gaze. “I’m sorry” She manages to get out without stammering.

Mira’s face softens slightly at the sight below her, after noticing how Rumi’s slightly shaking underneath her pointed glares. She closes her eyes as her eyebrows knit together. Her fingers moving up to massage and pinch the bridge of her nose before she opens her eyes again. Her facial expression now something akin to one of the flat yet better expressions Mira had. “You should’ve told me” Is all she says before turning her gaze to the rest of the event that was happening around them, her eyes staring at the stage not far from where they had been standing.

“You’re right, Miss. I’m sorry” Rumi replies, feeling defeated as with one slip-up had costed her all the progress she’s had with chipping away at Mira’s cold persona.

Mira just hums in response, loud enough for Rumi to make out despite the loud music blasting on the speakers, the sound resembling something like that of an elevator music—just something to keep the environment from becoming dull and quiet.

“We’ll leave early” Mira announces after a while, her arms still crossed against her chest while her gaze darts from the stage to Rumi.

“O-okay, Miss” Rumi nods, not wanting to leave early to miss the gathering that was supposed to take place right after the seminar but also not wanting to possibly anger her boss anymore than she already has.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The drive home, unlike yesterday’s drive, was filled with utter and complete silence. It didn’t help that it was nearing the end of the day, the surroundings around them as they moved from one to city to another becoming dull as it a field stretched on for miles before even reach the border of their city.

Rumi didn’t know how to break the silence. It wasn’t like she had the liberty of asking Mira’s questions and possibly getting to know their boss even more than she already has or even more than what Mira allows her employees to know about her. She had surprisingly somehow angered their boss with her stunt earlier and she didn’t know how to make amends with her so she just sits in silence on the passenger side of Mira’s sports car as she plays a little game with herself as she looks out the car window.

This time, Rumi doesn’t fall asleep and instead just keeps to herself as she leans on the car door’s window with her duffel bag sitting nicely on her lap.

Mira, on the other hand, had kept to herself as well. Hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as her eyes trained on the road that stretched for miles on end.

No noise, no music, no conversation that ensued. Just the faint hum of the engine that kept both of them company.

And as they near the company after what seemed like an hour of driving, Rumi’s mind runs back to the events that unfolded just hours ago at the seminar. Had her disappearance really affected Mira well enough for the pink-haired boss to put up this wall between them.

Her train of thoughts get cut by the sound of the engine softly roaring before halting. Rumi pushes herself off the window to see that they’re parked right outside the office, her eyes darting from the building to the parking lot where she sees her black sedan still parked and untouched in the same location she’s left it in since yesterday. She subtly turns to her left to see Mira looking down onto her lap, as if contemplating something.

Rumi purses her lip, biting the inside of her cheek as she has an internalized debate. Closing her eyes shut for a moment before she finally speaks up. “I, uh, wanted to apologize about earlier. I really didn’t mean to disappear like that and I take full responsibility—”

“I understand” Mira cuts her off. Her voice sharp and full of command, but her facial expressions soft and what Rumi can only describe to be concern.

“Are you mad at me?” Rumi blurts out, hand holding onto the door’s handle. Her eyes fixed on the pink-haired boss that’s inches away from her, her chest heaving up and down.

“No” Mira replies, eyes staring directly into Rumi’s. “I’m not mad at you, Rumi…”

Rumi’s lips press into a thin line as she nods. “Still, I’m sorry”

“It’s alright” Mira replies in an instant. “You should go. It’s late and you need to rest”

The purple-haired employee nods in response. “Thank you, Miss—er—Mira” Her eyes roaming around Mira’s face, scanning it for any angry expression. But there wasn’t any hint of any negative reactions to her comment so Rumi takes it that Mira had indeed meant it when she said she hadn’t harbored any ill feelings towards her.

“Thank you too, Rumi” Finally. Rumi thinks. A crack of a smile on her lips.

Rumi nods again as she hastily leaves the car, not wanting to impose and stay any longer than she’s supposed to.  She hurriedly makes her way to her sedan, duffel bag in her arms.

Once inside, Rumi lets out a loud sigh of relief as her back slumps and hits the leather seats of the car. Oh how she missed being in her own car, not that Mira’s car was uncomfortable—no, it was far different from that. Her car was the epitome of class, luxury, and comfortable intertwined into one silver sports car that was Jeong Mira’s. But being cooped up in the same car as your boss that you weren’t exactly sure had hated you or not wasn’t exactly an ideal environment for her. But still, Rumi had rejoiced on the fact that she’s managed to somehow chip away at Mira’s tough exterior well enough to be on a first-name basis with her.

She starts the car as she tosses her duffel bag in the passenger seat. Her back pocket buzzes just as she does so, making Rumi jump in her seat. She hurriedly takes out her phone; her mind completely disregarding the fact that she had stashed it away on her person sometime after the argument at the seminar.

The thoughts racing through her mind as she recalls her last interaction with Zoey. A chill runs through her spine as the text message makes its round to the forefront of her mind. Had Zoey finally noticed her and caught her lie?

Rumi just prays and hopes for the best as her fingers glide through the screen, heart practically thumping out of her chest in anxiousness and worry.

And as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her chest, Rumi lets out a loud sigh.

6:01 PM
Zoey 💚
hey babe i made up some jjajangmyeon :]
and ordered pizza too cause idk how these will turn out
cant wait for you to come over<3

Rumi’s back hits the leather seat again as she slumps back, her shoulders rolling forward and released from the tension. She puts her phone down by the passenger seat before pulling out of the parking lot and into the highway. Moving her hand up to adjust the rearview mirror as she does pull into the highway. A glint of silver flashing as she does so. Her eyebrows knit together in thoughtful crease as she eyes the car not far behind her.

Was she waiting for me to leave? Rumi thinks as she notices the unmistakable silver sports car trailing not far from her. It wasn’t exactly surprising to Rumi. They had practically lived in the same neighborhood just a couple blocks away from each other with gate that stood between them. But past that it wasn’t as far as compared to her and Zoey where she had to take the drive to her apartment.

Rumi decides to drive over to her apartment to shake off Mira, not wanting to arouse her boss’ suspicions if she decides to just drive to a different neighborhood than the one she’s already pointed out to be where her residence is.

A few minutes of driving later and Rumi had found herself finally separating from Mira by the intersection between her neighborhood and the path along to Mira’s gated subdivisions. She waits for a few minutes before zooming past the cars and heading straight to her girlfriend’s apartment. It had been a good ten minutes already since she had left the office. Had Mira not waited for her then she would’ve already been in Zoey’s apartment, in Zoey’s arms, eating the meal Zoey made as they curled up in Zoey’s couch.

It was clear and evident that Rumi had missed her girlfriend, especially with the whole fiasco back at the hotel. She was just glad that everything was done and over with and that she didn’t have to be stuck and confined within close proximity to their pink-haired HR, not that she hated her really. It’s just that Rumi never really still got to uncover Mira and that puzzled her. Jeong Mira had always been an enigma to her, even more so now with what happened between her and Sumin. She never really knew what to make of the encounter, even hours later as she pulls into the parking lot of Zoey’s apartment, she still couldn’t piece together what had happened back then.

Was she upset Sumin bumped into me? Rumi thinks to herself as she gets out of her car and starts heading for the elevator. The pathway from the parking lot to Zoey’s apartment by the sixth floor had become muscle memory to Rumi at this point as if she had practically lived here.

Or was she upset that I bumped into Sumin? The elevator doors closing in on her for a short while before eventually moving up. No, that didn’t make sense. She thinks. Because had that been the reason Mira was upset then she would’ve taken out her anger at her and not at some poor brunette employee of the sister company.

Ding!

Rumi would never really get to the bottom of it, not especially with how she had drowned out their argument midway as she read the text message that made her stomach churn and drop to lowest pits. The notification still in her notification bar of her phone as she got another message from Zoey’s steamer persona not long after. Rumi had been deathly terrified of opening it and watching it be a message expressing how she had uncovered her girlfriend’s secret. But seeing as how Zoey had been excited to see her tonight, it seemed like that was far from what actually happened. Nonetheless, opening the message was the last thing on Rumi’s mind as she tries to push it back. That was for Rumi to handle on another day.

For today, she decides to enjoy and bask in her girlfriend’s presence as she lifts her hand to rap on the door.

There’s pitter patter of footsteps just right behind the thick mahogany door followed by clicks before it finally swung open, revealing a Zoey with nothing but Rumi’s oversized shirt on.

“Baby!” Zoey greets as she practically pounces on Rumi.

Rumi chuckles as she instantly wraps her arms around her girlfriend, head nuzzling into Zoey’s neck as she steadies herself, careful not to drop her girlfriend. “Hi baby” Rumi greets back as she looks up to find her footing, dragging both of them inside Zoey’s cozy apartment.

“I missed you” Zoey murmurs against her shoulder, arms still wrapped around Rumi like a koala, scared that she’d disappear the moment she’d let go.

“I missed you too” Rumi replies, finally finding the couch after seconds of copping around the living room blindly. She leans in and plops Zoey down by the back onto the couch before falling onto the couch right beside her.

Zoey practically squeals as she rolls over to her side to face her girlfriend. She presses her elbow against the couch as her cheek presses up against her palm. “How was the seminar?”

Rumi rolls on her side as she looks up at Zoey. “Boring” She pouts. “It was just stocks and sales and how they’re gonna conquer the Korean market, world domination, blah blah” Rumi makes a disinterested sound as she playfully rolls her eyes. “You know, the boring stuff”

Zoey giggles; it’s a soft melodic tune that Rumi’s missed in the two days she’s been gone. “How was Mira? Anything fun happen with her?”

Rumi feels the cold sweat break out on forehead as she feels suddenly feels a surge of anxiety run through the course her veins. She stares into Zoey’s eyes, too scared to speak up for a few seconds before she finally speaks up. “N-no” Her lips breaking into a smile. It’s a flimsy cover-up at best but it was something that’d keep Zoey distracted from knowing the actual truth. Who would believe her anyways? It’s not like she could say “yeah she actually went batshit crazy on this girl for no damn reason”, because who would believe her then? As her eyes meets Zoey’s browns ones, watching them twinkle as they turn into crescents at Zoey’s smile, she realizes that yeah maybe Zoey would. But she still had her own secrets to uphold and somehow find a way to either dig deep down or fess up to. And the latter certainly wasn’t looking to be all that enticing for her, so she chucks it to the deepest crevice of her mind as she looks at Zoey with a smile on her face.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Work had been slow with nothing unremarkable or out of the ordinary happening, much to Rumi’s delight. Both her and Zoey had finally been released from the swamped paper works and overtime that they’re handed like crazy. It seemed like Jinu had finally calmed down and decided to proceed with things as rationally as he could with actually doing some of his work rather than handing it out to his employees for them to work and sort out for him to take credit for.

Rumi really couldn’t careless anymore if he’d go up and about doing that. It seemed to be quite on brand for their team leader that everyone in the office seems to agree with the thought of how devilish their team leader could be. It actually baffles the purple-haired employee with how he’s somehow still in the position of a team leader despite his weaponized incompetence that he hides perfectly with a thin veil of promise with how he’s “doing the most” in his office—whatever that had meant.

But nonetheless, Rumi was ecstatic to say the least that she had no longer had to do even more paperwork or file for overtime for the past few days. And instead, work had progressed like normal for the two deskmates.

That was until Friday came and suddenly Park Jinu has the need to be, once again, ostentatious in front of his employees as he loudly announces in the middle of the room to not head home because there had been a surprise for everyone.

“I swear to god if his surprise is another announcement” Zoey mutters, annoyance visible in her voice as she grumbles.

Rumi chuckles as she nudges her girlfriend. “Don’t say that, it might come true”

Zoey just playfully rolls her eyes in response as she lets out a laugh. “You’re right”

The hours go by like normal with the employees minding their own business as they go about their work. It had been a slow day again like any other in their office, and soon enough the clock was nearing five and Park Jinu somehow stays true to his words as he makes his way to the center of the office, coughing loudly to gather everyone’s attention as if he hadn’t held it the moment he had stepped out his office and deliberately taken loud and short strides.

“There’ll be a company dinner at the barbeque shop nearby” He loudly announces, his voice monotone and flat. “All employees are invited to come. Attendance is not mandatory but it’s highly encouraged” He clasps his hands together, the sound echoing throughout the office. “See you!”

As soon as he left, loud chatters started echoing in the room.

“What was that about?”

“You really think it’s true?” “It’s Park Jinu. Take everything he says with a bucket of salt”

“Is it free?”

Zoey looks around, curious at their co-workers reaction. She does a once-over before leaning into her desk. “You think it’s true?” She asks her girlfriend.

To which Rumi shrugs as she has a confused expression etched all over her face. “I don’t know.” She mutters, sighing. “It’s Jinu”

“Right” Zoey purses her lips before nodding. “You wanna go?”

“I mean if you want to” She flashes a smile at her deskmate. “If you don’t then we can just eat out and then hang out” Her voice lower than usual, scared of the surveillance cameras.

Zoey grins as she giggles. “Yey! You mean that?”

What was Rumi if not a slave to her girlfriend’s requests? So she nods as she throws two thumbs up. It was Friday anyways and this was the most she could do to make up for being absent over the last weekend, despite Zoey reassuring her countless times that it was completely fine.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

For once, Park Jinu had not been lying. There really had been a company dinner at the barbeque restaurant nearby and everything was in fact free. Their team leader had done a lot of unremarkable and intolerable things that lying about a free company dinner wasn’t completely beneath him.

The party had gone on for an hour before things had finally loosened up and the employees where finally enjoying themselves to the food and music, getting lost in conversations that only a bottle of soju and some Korean barbeque could coax it out of their system.

“This is fun!” Zoey exclaims as they dance by the empty space by the bar. It unsurprisingly had a minibar with a small dance floor. It wasn’t all that fancy or luxurious unlike the one she and Zoey had been to during one of their “first” dates, but it wasn’t all that shabby as it housed all of the employees on the large interior of the restaurant. It seemed to cater to every drunk need as the music blasted loudly by the dance floor.

“It is” Rumi chuckles as she accompanies her girlfriend on the dance floor, mind a bit hazy and vision blurred slightly by the fog of the nearby exhaust and the alcohol in her system.

“Come over here” Zoey giggles again. A little more than she usually does and that’s the telltale sign of her being drunk, other from the glaringly obvious red tint spread across her cheek. She drags her hand across Rumi’s arm as she sways to the beat of the music. It’s a slower beat to the upbeat musi that’s been playing since an hour ago.

And normally, Rumi would push her girlfriend away, not because she had hated to be seen with her or even embarrassed being with her. But rather, she would much rather not get caught with Zoey in a company event, scared that the repercussions would fall heavy on her and her girlfriend. But there’s a pathological need to act irrational or on impulse rather than on well-thought out and heavily decided actions. So she, in the heat of the moment, leans in and dances a little too closely. But it doesn’t matter. Everyone’s either busy laughing their heads off or drunk and tipsy or both. They hadn’t really known. They had been busy watching each other as they dance away at the dance floor.

Their hands finding their spots on their body as if they’ve practiced this multiple times, watching as they fit the gaps perfectly like puzzle pieces and soon enough swaying to the beat of the music lead to another thing as the two of them sneaked to the bathroom by the far back.

Zoey’s already lost herself to the alcohol as she continues giggling on the way to the bathroom, her hand gripping her girlfriend’s tightly. Rumi doesn’t shush her or do anything in contradiction to Zoey’s actions. Instead, she’s laughing along with her, as if encouraging her girlfriend’s rash decision to make out at the restaurant’s bathroom when no one’s looking. No one else other from their co-workers were here and they had all been equally just as drunk as they were. It’s not like they’d notice the two slipping out of the party and pushing each other’s bodies against one another as they made out sloppily.

“God” Zoey leans back; her body pressed against the sink as Rumi lifts her up with ease. Perhaps the alcohol had given her not only confidence to be bold and assertive in public, but strength that she hadn’t known she even possessed. Her head tilted back as her girlfriend’s lips latch onto her jaw, leaving open mouthed kissed along the line of her jaw leading down to her neck.

Zoey’s fingers tangled into purple locks as she lets out a moan. The music had been deafening that barely anything could be heard inside. Rumi continues on with her ministration, eager to hear the melodic tune she recognizes as her girlfriend’s moans while her fingers press firmly against the pad of Zoey’s clothed core.

“Rums, ah, baby” Zoey’s fingers tugging at Rumi’s purple locks, watching it come undone as she grabs at it. “Please”

“Please what, baby?” Rumi asks, a hint of tease visible in her voice. Her fingers running up and down gently against Zoey’s core, taunting as her movements languid.

A mix of a groan and a satisfied noise leaves Zoey’s lips.

KNOCK KNOCK!

The music is deafening but the loud can be heard clear as day, startling the two of them. It takes them embarrassingly fast to sober up as they fix their clothes and smudged make-up.

“I’ll, uh, go out first” Zoey says to her girlfriend, the red tint on her cheeks now almost completely gone.

“O-okay” Rumi replies, stammering as if the alcohol’s effects had thinned and worn out in an instant.

They follow their plan of Zoey walking out first while Rumi trying her best to appear inconspicuous as she walks out a few moments after Zoey. Her deskmate getting caught up in between her co-workers not far off from the comfort room. And Rumi, wanting to try her best to not appear as if she hadn’t just almost fucked her own deskmate in the bathroom, had decided to walk over to the balcony to grab some fresh air and possibly sober up. The co-worker’s too drunk and dazed to even notice how two of her co-workers had just walked out from the same bathroom in a short span of time, just relieved how the bathroom’s finally cleared up and opened for her to possibly puke in.

She grabs a bottle of beer from the bar on the way out, sipping on it slightly. It defeats her purpose really, of wanting to sober up before she takes her car out and drive the two of them back to Zoey’s apartment, which very may well be Rumi’s apartment at that point. The rim pressed up against her lips as she lifts the bottle up slightly. The fresh and cool air hitting her in an instant as she walks out, instantly replacing the heavy scent of barbeque meat that had wafted around the restaurant’s air.

Rumi leans into the balcony’s railings as she holds the bottle with her hand. She leans up against it, her vision slightly blurred by the alcohol. But she can clearly make out the outlines of her girlfriend not too far in the distance as she chats with their co-workers. There’s a quiet lull out in the balcony compared to inside the restaurant where it felt packed and the air felt thick with the heavy scent of meat.

“Seems like you’re having fun”

Rumi swore she had seen a ghost and if she hadn’t had an iron grip on the bottle in her hands, she would’ve dropped it by accident. “Sorry” She mutters an apology when she’s composed herself a few seconds later.

“It’s fine” The redhead replies, a smile on her lips. “Are you having fun?” She rephrases her previous statement, pointing a question directly at Rumi.

“Yeah” She breathes out. The conversation sobering her up in an instant as she places the bottle down on one of the tables out in the balcony with them. “A-are you?” She asks it back.

Mira presses her lips into a thin line, eyes piercing into Rumi’s and for a moment the latter feels like she’s shrinking underneath her gaze. But she feels relieved when cherry painted lips curl up into a smile. “Yeah” She shifts close to Rumi as she leans back on the railing. “A friend of mine told me that a little incentive would get everyone to loosen up.”

Rumi’s cheeks flare up as she comes to a sudden realization. She tries her best to compose herself before she nods, her eyes desperately trying to keep trained on her co-workers inside, averting from the brown orbs that seem to be staring deeply into her side. “It does” She replies, her voice soft and shy.

“Good” is all Mira replies. And unlike the typical one word replies she normally does that feels demeaning, her response felt kind and had its own sense of genuineness.

There’s an air of silence between and unlike before, it feels comforting as the two bask in it, trying to soak up the view of their shared co-workers having fun.

Zoey’s not far off in the distance laughing as she chats with their co-workers.

“You seem very close with Miss Son”

Thick beads of sweat profusely forming on Rumi’s forehead despite the cool air of the night. “Y-yeah” Rumi replies, trying her best to act casually. “She’s my deskmate so we spend most of our time at work together” She explains, her voice almost cracking at the seams. One slip up and she was doomed to hell.

Mira hums intelligently.

Another dead air of silence fills them. It’s comfortable and fitting. Two women just out at the balcony trying to have a feel of the fresh air that the night brought.

“Why aren’t you inside?” Rumi decides to ask the question that’s been bugging her since earlier. Her gaze now shifting from the party to the pink-haired boss standing beside her.

“You’re out here, aren’t you?”

What did that mean? Rumi scans her face but to no avail. A flat and monotonous expression etched all over the HR’s face. Brown eyes staring at her directly, as if trying to drink her expression in. Which wasn't fair because Rumi felt like an open book; easy to decipher and read that you could clearly make out what she's feeling just by a glance at her.

While Jeong Mira had still been an enigma to her.

Chapter Text

The dark of the night sky barely illuminating the small balcony they were on. Rumi’s eyes piercing into Mira’s as she tries to scan her face for any semblance of any emotion at the least. But the things she got back was brown orbs staring right back at her with lips pressed into a thin line. Her eyes flickering between Rumi’s eyes as the cool breeze of the night passed them by, pink hair swaying in slightly.

It felt scenic, having Mira lean on the railings in front of you as she stared at you like you were the only girl in the world. It was such a beautiful feeling for Rumi in contrast to the the familiar confusing feelings bubbling up once more and making its rounds to the forefront of her brain.

Jeong Mira was an enigma to her. And it had irked Rumi because she had so desperately wanted to put her together like a puzzle that’s waiting to be fixed or a rubik’s cube that needed to be solved in order to make sense. But in the chaos of it all, Rumi still somehow managed to piece her together despite some of the pieces missing. She had chipped away at Mira’s tough exterior little by little, completely unaware at the power she held against the redhead, too focused on the thought of trying to figure her out that only if she had taken a step back and looked at the bigger picture would she realize how Mira should have never been an enigma to her to begin with.

To the rest, she remained a mystery—one that they never really bothered to try and take their time to figure her out, not wanting to be on her bad side. But to Rumi, Mira had pretty much been an open book, eager to answer and serve the purple-haired employee for whatever she had wanted to learn. Perhaps the purple-haired girl was too busy trying to figure her out to even realize how she had it in the palm of her hands.

“Mira” Her voice is soft as her eyebrows furrowed together in thoughtful crease. “Have you ever…” She contemplates for a bit as she tries to find the right word. Was it even right to speak of things like this with Mira, her boss? But Rumi throws away all rational thoughts for a moment. They’re drinking and it’s Friday. She could always just chuck it to her being intoxicated and out of her wits. After all, it was after hours, she had every excuse in the book to use as defense. “Liked someone but it just felt” Her hands mimicking a gesture of crushing something in between her hands. “like you weren’t supposed to” She tenses up as she continue speaking. “Like you couldn’t or somehow the whole world would explode and end” Her shoulders rolling forward as she slumps, hands falling to her side. Speaking out her truth was never Rumi’s strong suit—she had always sucked at it even way back when she was a kid. It was a surprise really how well she’s managed to pull it off during high school well enough to become a student council president. But even with the passage of time, Rumi still had her tongue tied and the lump on her throat every time she tried to speak her thoughts out.

Mira stays silent for a while and Rumi grows anxious but she eventually speaks up again. “I have” It’s an answer Rumi wasn’t quite sure how to deal with or go about. She never really expected Mira’s answers to be anything but a no. But here she was, answering to Rumi’s every query like the open book that she was. It would only take the purple-haired employee so long until she’d come to a realization that the tough shell she has, falls off so easily when it came to her.

“And how do you...deal with it?” She asks hesitantly, scared that she’ll rise suspicion out of her boss. It’s the first conversation she’s ever stroke out of her that wasn’t done to cut through the tension or to prevent a lull from ever happening in the short time they’re forced to be in each other’s company, but rather something that’s out of her own free will. Rumi’s body no longer tensed up unlike their old encounters, but rather it’s now leaning against the railing in a lax manner with one arm resting on it as the other arm by her side.

Mira just smiles at her before shaking her head. “I don’t” She replies, the smile on her lips never leaving. “It’s something you don’t really have freedom over. Not like you can just start breaking the rules. It just doesn’t work like that” She replies, so casually.

All it takes is one slip-up and suddenly everything starts to fall together like puzzle pieces that fit perfectly against each other.

“But everyone has a breaking point” Rumi chuckles. The alcohol still heavily running through her systems as her mind refuses to work overtime to start thinking rationally. It’s Friday. She reminds herself. And they’re drinking—she’s actually drunk out of her mind except for the moment she’s realized that she was never alone in the balcony to begin with.

“You’re right” Red lips purse together as her pink painted nails tap on the steel railings by their side. “Guess I haven’t reached it”

“So you’re just waiting until you do?”

Jeong Mira was still an unsolved puzzle, perhaps with a few missing pieces even. It was hard to determine and figure her out without going through the excruciatingly long process of piecing her together one by one. But in the dark of the night sky they’re underneath in, Rumi notices everything—the way Mira looked at her with soft eyes that held so warmth in their gaze, the way her pink hair was let down and flowed freely with the cold breeze of the night, or the way her lips tug upward every so slightly before opening to speak.

“Hey, that’s where you are” Words slurred as a very drunk Zoey almost topples over as she stumbles into the balcony. “Been looking for you everywhere” She giggles. Her words interrupting Mira as the latter just closes her mouth again, eyes darting from the employee in front of her to the inebriated one that’s barely even able to hold her own balance.

As if one moment of instant sobriety wasn’t enough, Rumi has to go through it again as she realizes her girlfriend is stumbling over to her, possibly to give her a kiss or be touchy feely with her. Either way it wasn’t exactly ideal, not that Rumi hadn’t liked it when her girlfriend was clingy with her, but rather it very much scared her to think about Zoey accidentally doing that in front of their boss. Sure, it was Friday and they were drinking. But the pathological need to do something stupid while inebriated was immediately driven away by the thought of wanting to still very much have a job.

“Zoe” Rumi greets as she shifts her entire body to her girlfriend, arms reaching out to grab her and help her up. She gently holds Zoey by the arms firmly, careful not to squeeze too much or she’d be hurting her, but well enough to hold her in place so she doesn’t topple sideways. “Did you have fun?” She asks, voice a bit softer as she walks closer over to her.

“Yuuuuup” Zoey was gone.

It was clear to Rumi even from the way she was stumbling around and her movements were sloppy and slow. But hearing her up close speak up and never mind the heavy scent of alcohol that reeked from her mouth as she spoke up.

The purple-haired girl chuckles. “That’s great.” She nods. And when Zoey leans in to give her a hug and to possibly sneak in a kiss, Rumi leans back away, earning a pout from the former.

Before Zoey could even open her mouth, Rumi looks to her side as she flashes an awkward smile at her. “Hey, uh, I think I’ll call it a night. I have to send Zoey home”

“Rums babe who are you talk—”

Rumi’s gaze still fixed on Mira as her hand moves up to shush Zoey by pressing her palm against her mouth. “She needs to rest” Rumi adds as an chuckle leaves her lips, anything to try and smoothen out the tension between them.

Mira just nods, hands now in her pocket. “Take care”

“You too, Miss—er—Mira. Good night” She nods at her before ushering her girlfriend away and back to the inside of the restaurant.

“That was, hic, Mira?!” Zoey asks, sobering up at the speed of light. They’re no longer by the balcony but Zoey still feels the need to put on an act as if she wasn’t just completely wasted just a moment ago.

“Yes” Rumi replies, a scared reaction on her face. “I think she almost caught us” She whispers.

The party’s no longer in a full swing. Most of their co-workers had gone home, presumably to rest or had had enough of the meat and drinking. While the rest that stayed were either passed out or still talking with one another or at least trying to.

“We should go home” Rumi tries to look behind her but had decided against it, not wanting to accidentally blow their cover by turning all the way to look back at Mira, checking if the redhead was still by the balcony.

“O-okay!” Zoey cheerfully replies. The incident had definitely jogged her memory enough to have her brain running up in seconds, but definitely not enough to have it up completely as Zoey still staggers in her steps; her words still having some slurring in them.

Rumi helps her up, slinging her arm over her shoulder as the two of them make their way out to the parking lot. She helps her into the passenger side of her black sedan, buckling her seatbelt for her before she jogs over to her side of the car and starts it.

It doesn’t take long for the two of them to arrive by the familiar parking lot of Zoey’s apartment building. By now the guards had already memorized Rumi, essentially treating her as one of their very own guests much like Zoey was.

She nods at the guard as she hauls her girlfriend up the stairs, her arm slung over her shoulders. Zoey’s not really heavy, if anything she was a lot lighter than Rumi. But carrying your very intoxicated girlfriend while she tries to lean in and feel you up could only do so much for Rumi.

“Baby” She mutters as she tries to hold Zoey up, but the latter had other plans as she presses against Rumi, doing absolutely nothing to help her girlfriend or hear her pleas.

“Hehehe” Zoey giggles as she leans back, away from Rumi.

The purple-haired girl’s eyes widen as she quickly grabs hold of Zoey, her hand finding the small of Zoey’s back, pulling her as close as ever. She loved her girlfriend but she had been an absolute menace especially now that all wits and rational sense of being Zoey had was thrown out the first window.

Ding!

Relief washes Rumi like a tidal wave as they arrive by the sixth floor. She instantly wraps her arms around her girlfriend’s side as they make their way to her room, with the help of Rumi, of course. Zoey had been barely doing anything at this rate as she allows herself to get dragged by her girlfriend—if anything, Zoey had been making it an extremely hard task for her as she barely lifts up her feet, while often running her fingers through Rumi’s chest and arms.

Rumi tries her best to keep it in as she punches in the code to Zoey’s apartment. She’s thankful she’s managed to learn the code out of her girlfriend, or they would’ve had to be stuck out here for the rest of the night or even worse was having to drive to Rumi’s apartment so they could stay the night there. Not that Rumi really had an issue with having Zoey over; she’d have to bring her over one day anyways. But she wasn’t really in the mood to go again for another drive, not especially when the aftereffect of the alcohol starts kicking in and suddenly she’s craving the comfortable mattress of Zoey’s bedroom.

She hauls in her girlfriend with much difficulty. Zoey never really tries to help her, not that she could anyways. She was already beyond out of her rational state of mind to even do anything. The two of them stumble into the bedroom, staggering by the foot of the bed just in time for Rumi to drop the two of them on top of the mattress. The springs underneath squeaking slightly as they fall down with a loud thud.

“Sorry” Rumi breathes out, beyond exhausted with the events that occurred today.

Zoey giggles as she rolls over to her side, fingers trailing up and down Rumi’s chest. Her speech slurring as her vision already beyond hazy. For Rumi, there’s clearly one of her girlfriend and she’s doing her best to flirt with her as any rational had already been tossed the moment alcohol had run through the stream and course of her veins. But for Zoey, the vision of her girlfriend came as a blessing to her as she sees not only one sight of her beautiful girlfriend but rather had two Rumis laying beside her and the thought of it excited the turtle-obsessed girl.

“It’s fine” Zoey slurs out, her hand resting right atop Rumi’s chest, cupping it gently. But despite the alcohol-driven thoughts running amok her mind, sleep washes over Zoey as she lets out a loud yawn.

Rumi lets out a giggle as she pats her girlfriend’s head, caressing her cheek before pinching it gently. “You need to sleep”

A whine echoes between them as Zoey protests. Her adorable way of protesting that has Rumi folding in an instant; her bottom lip jutting out as she bats her eyelashes at her girl.

“Stop that” Rumi chuckles as her hand reminds on Zoey’s cheek. She’s looking up at her girlfriend, who somehow gotten the strength to prop herself up without Rumi’s help. “You know I’m weak to that” She murmurs.

“I know” Zoey giggles as she grins widely at her girlfriend that’s laying on the bed beneath her. “Which is exactly why I’m doing it”

Rumi playfully sticks her tongue out. “Tomorrow maybe?” She suggests.

And as if being told the funniest joke known to mankind, Zoey lets out a loud laugh. “Oh my god are you suggesting we schedule sex?” She smacks her girlfriend by the arm with her free hand before shaking her head. “Are we really that old?” Her slur coming back into play as her vision becoming hazier with each word.

“No no!” Rumi can’t help but laugh as well. “I love you, but you are so not fighting me on this” She puts both her hands on Zoey’s shoulders as she gently pushes the raven-haired girl down, now effectively straddling her girlfriend.

As if drowned in sobriety for a brief moment, Zoey’s eyes widen, her hands by her side as she’s pinned down by Rumi. “You said you love me!” She exclaims as a shit-eating grin makes it ways to her lips.

Rumi’s eyes widen as she comes to a realization with how she had indeed expressed her exact feelings for her girl. “Y-yeah” She replies as she breathes out. “I do” Her chest heaving up and down slowly.

Zoey’s grin widens. “I love you too” She says with all the energy she has left in her body.

Rumi feels a bright red tint creep up on her cheek as she looks down on her girlfriend. “We should sleep” She suggests once more, this time her voice a bit more shy than the last.

And Zoey, thankfully, doesn’t protest and instead just nods as she giggles, teasing her girlfriend relentlessly even as they tuck themselves both into bed.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

The sun’s glaringly hot rays seeping into her room without the comfort of the curtain covering them. Zoey groans as she rolls over. They had forgotten to roll the curtains to the side and were now suffering the consequences of their inebriated actions of last night.

The events of last night becoming foggy and a hazy memory for Zoey with only bits and pieces of it visible in her mind. Her head is pounding like crazy as her skin feels hot and sticky. The duvet doing nothing but sticking onto her skin, making her feel all the more hot. She peers at her nightstand, seeing the bright red flashes of her desk clock. 10:12 am.

She groans as she drops back down onto her bed, face first. She and Rumi had overslept thanks to the alcohol that had been in their system. Incessant and constant buzzing coming from another side of the room. She lifts her head up and tries to find the source of the buzzing, eventually landing onto the other nightstand just right next to her girlfriend.

Zoey reaches over as she lifts up the phone, eyes squinting despite the growing headache she feels. It’s an alarm Rumi’s set that had somehow been buzzing until she switched off. Zoey drops back down onto the bed, now with the addition of Rumi’s phone in her hand. It buzzes once more and Zoey rolls over to her side, back towards her girlfriend.

She knows it’s not a good idea to open her phone, not especially without her girlfriend’s permission. It just felt wrong and it’s not like she really had any reason to. It buzzed and so that was for Rumi to check out later on when she’s preferably up. But there still had been remnants of alcohol in Zoey’s system, still running through the course of her veins and there just had to be a heavy connection between alcohol and the pathological need to do something rash and stupid.

Her fingers glide through Rumi’s screen, watching it unlock in an instant. Now she could do the most rational thing which was close it and place it back down onto the nightstand and go about the rest of her day. But Zoey had better plans as she runs her finger down the screen, pulling down on the notification bar. There’s countless notifications of irrelevant things such as news articles and public safety notifications. But there had been one notification that had her puzzled.

Friday
11:42 PM
Mira
I appreciated our talk earlier
made me realize some things
I want you to know that my door’s always open for you.

What the fuck? Zoey’s eyebrows furrow together. Because as far as she knew the two barely had interacted save for the times Jinu’s forced her girlfriend to make the walk up and even then Rumi barely had any intentions of getting close with the pink-haired boss. Now she could go about this rationally and ignore it because the text could have meant multitude of things, they could have had talks about literally anything else than the irrational thoughts she had in her mind. But alcohol was still heavily running through her system and she accidentally swipes up on the message, wanting to clear it, but accidentally runs through the rest of her notifications.

Her heart dropping down to the lowest pits of her stomach as she sees the notification.

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Zoey should’ve listened to herself when she had thought about how much of a bad idea it was to go through your partner’s phone behind their back because nothing good ever came to that. And the events of today had been proof of that.

It’s eight in the evening and she’s alone in her apartment after having to convince her girlfriend she had needed to be alone to clean up the apartment, to which she suggests helping her. But Zoey politely turns her down and comes up with a flimsy excuse and reason, and Rumi, despite her being confused, just nods and respects her girlfriend’s wants as she heads home.

Now she’s sitting in front of her camera, the leather mask now covering her face once more. The flashing red light blinking: an indication that the stream was soon starting. Just as Zoey had intended.

Then suddenly her laptop’s screen flashes the countdown for a while before it hits zero.

The comments pour in an instant, all of them saying how much they’ve missed the streamer and how they’re so happy to see her again.

strawberryluvr: oh my god ur back! missed ur shows <33
user321893: love you strawberry princess
jwsusw: so happy to see u again

And normally the comments would entice Zoey to do more. But she’s not in the bikini she loves to don on during her shows, not even in the bodysuit she puts on when she feels too tired to think of an outfit to use in her stream. Instead, she’s in her green pyjama set. Little prints of turtles ran through the pyjama set.

She stares at the screen, watching the comments. Nothing out of the ordinary that stuck to Zoey.

“Hi berries” She speaks up after a while. “I know you missed me but I did promise a part two to the milestone stream”

The comments encouraging her to continue with it, not even minding how it’s not her putting on a show in front of them, just ecstatic to see the streamer again after a while.

“Just been busy with work, life, and my girlfriend…” She trails off, watching the viewer’s reaction to her words. And of course, the comments go on to ask her about her elusive girlfriend, some of the comments bordering being intrusive as they ask more details about her work and girlfriend. “But that’ll change soon. I’ll have more time to stream.”

ionic97: what does that mean?
user281: HWAT
starboi9: wthat happne
user3920392: are u breaking up with ur gf?

Suddenly more comments start pouring in and none of them sticking out to Rumi until a particular message pops up on the stream.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon donated ₩458,000
what happened?

Only then did Zoey speak up. “Differences between us that we couldn’t work through.”

mudkip21: oh noooo :(
user02392: nooo!! that’s so sad, im soss sorry
user_31021: I’m sorry to hear that

Then another donation pours through.

golden_huntrx donated ₩120,000
you broke up?

Zoey could just feel her own smile forming behind her mask, her plan just falling right into place again. “Yes” She replies, her voice trying to portray sadness as convincing as she could.

golden_huntrx donated ₩140,000
no you didn’t

Zoey bites back the smile as she looks as confused as possible in front of the camera. “Who are you to tell me that? On what happened between me and MY girlfriend?” She asks, hurt visible in her voice. It’s a show, Zoey thinks. And she’s masterfully acting in it.

user3023: wtf is happening right now
kiremon: who is this golden dude right now
piplup121: read the room!

golden_huntrx donated ₩120,000
stop spreading lies please

“How can I be spreading lies when it is the truth?” Hand over her chest as she stares at the camera.

j_j_jjajeongmyeon donated ₩671,000
Is this your girlfriend?

“No” Zoey replies in an instant, acting hurt as she furrows her eyebrows and scrunches her nose as if the mere suggested had disgusted her. “Why would you even ask that?”

Her phone starts ringing somewhere in her room, buzzing incessantly but Zoey hadn’t budged an inch as she continues looking at the camera.

golden_huntrx donated ₩87,000
pick up the phone

Zoey remains still as she stares at the camera, her face hidden behind a mask but her lips are pressed into a thin line as her eyebrows knit together.

golden_huntrx donated ₩87,000
please

“Why should I?” She caves in, finally responding to her donation. Her chest heaving up and down in anger. “You knew about everything and yet you did nothing and just lied right through your damn teeth” It was no longer an act for Zoey as she feels the perfectly curated façade falling by the seams.

user3131i231: :o
ionic97: what the fuck!!
strawberrybaby: what the hell
user103910: holy shit??
raizu_10: is she her gf??

j_j_jjajeongmyeon donated ₩671,000
You lied

“Oh” Zoey rolls her eyes, bitterness seeping through every word she says. “Don’t get me started on you” Hands balling up into fists as her chest heaves up and down rhythmically with her breathing. “I lied? What about you? The both of you!” A frustrated groan leaves her lips. “Stay out of this” She’s seething with every word.

golden_huntrx donated ₩91,000
baby please just answer

Zoey doesn’t respond directly as she just shakes her head. Her vision blurred by the tears forming. “No” She firmly spat out. “You lied to me and played with me like a fucking puppet and the worst of it all?” There’s silence in the small bedroom she’s in, only the sound of notifications of comments pouring in being the only noise. “I trusted you and you just lied through your teeth and made me look like an idiot”

purpelyama: girl dump her ass
user1201232: she doesn’t deserve you!!
cg_vodka: golden_huntrx try not to be a manipulative gf challenge !!
user23201: 🍿🍿

golden_huntrx donated ₩312,022
let me explain please

“I’m done with you. We’re over.”