‘Sooyoung pushed me to come and say hi. Do they serve any alcohol here?’ She tried to look over his shoulder to where the table way. He smiled wider.

‘Coming right up. Wine ok?’

‘Perfect.’

‘Tao has told me about you.’ He handed her the glass. ‘Looks like both of them are doing a very bad job at setting us up.’

‘Tell me about it.’ She gulped the sweet liquor in one go. She was not yet in a state to deal with flirting and such. ‘I hear you’re a Korean teacher around here?’

‘I was actually led to believe that I don’t work that far away from your own company. You’ve also taught, right?’

‘A long time ago, I was really bad at it. I’m much better off working in finances and management.’

‘Good for you. I like my job – I like children, too, and that definitely helps. I felt stuffed in Korea and came here about three years ago.’

‘I’m from Canada but most of my family currently resides in Korea, too.’

They conversed for some time and to Wendy’s surprise, she actually had a good time with Jongin. He was very laid back about the whole dating thing and just like her, preferred to see where things went without putting too much thought into it.

Her phone buzzed again, this time a call went through. She looked at the caller ID and excused herself to pick up.

‘Mrs. Zhang.’ She greeted.

‘Dear, I hope I am not disturbing you. I wouldn’t dream of calling you this late on a Friday night but I have a bit of a emergency regarding Yixing’s birthday party. I’m here at the shop but they won’t let me take the suit that you had picked for him because I am not listed as a buyer.’

‘Oh. Oh!’ Wendy only then remembered that she indeed ordered the attire under her own name, despite it being Yixing’s mother gifting it to him. ‘I’m so sorry, I think I have put my name out of habit. I will text you the reservation number right away, that should help.’

‘Thank you, dear. Have a good night.’ As soon as they disconnected, Wendy searched through her phone’s calendar and found the relevant information. There were still so many things to do before Yixing’s surprise birthday party next week, she thought to herself as she automatically scrolled down the list she had made. She knew that her boss hated big celebrations in general, which is why she tried to compromise on his mother’s plans as much as she could. Nevertheless, even Wendy herself thought that he deserved some sort of party, since it was not every day that one turned 30.

‘Everything ok?’ She heard behind and jerked, having forgotten that Jongin was still there.

‘Yeah.. yes. I just made a mistake while buying a gift for my friend… boss… my friend.’ She stuttered.

‘Which one is it?’ Jongin smiled.

‘Both, I guess. I’ve worked for him so long that I can no longer differentiate. We’re holding a surprise birthday party for him next week but there is just too much to do, hence the problems.’

‘Lucky guy.’ Jongin only commented. Wendy smiled.

‘He’s a wonderful person and I love my job.’ She motioned at the table. ‘More wine?’

Having exchanged phone numbers, Wendy and Jongin parted ways a little after 1am. He left first, bidding everyone goodbye, while the girl decided that she would stick around in Sooyoung’s apartment until down, gossiping or napping on the coach and then take the first train back home.

It was only later did she realise that she still hadn’t read the message that came through at the time that she arrived at the party. It was a text from Yixing, inquiring if she had arrived safely and asking her not to drink too much. She suddenly felt bad, ignoring him like that for ages so she dialled his phone number, disregarding how late it really was. She wasn’t thinking, tipsy from the wine she had drunk.

‘Miss Wendy? Are you ok?’ His voice rang in her ear after mere seconds.

‘I’m fine, I’m fine. I didn’t mean to ignore you, I’ve lost track of time. Was there something you needed, Mr. Zhang?’ She yawned loudly into the receiver and heard his light chuckle on the other side.

‘It’s two o’clock in the morning.’ He pointed out. ‘You should probably go to sleep. Have you got back safely?’

‘I’m staying at Sooyoung’s tonight. The buses are no longer running.’

‘You could have just taken a taxi back.’ He scrunched her nose, thinking about it for a second.

‘If everyone just took a taxi home, what would become of this Earth?’ She asked out of the blue, feeling all philosophical after a few drinks and he chuckled again.

‘That’s true, isn’t it?’ He sighed. ‘I’m glad you’re safe.’

‘How was your gathering?’ She asked casually. He had invited her to a sushi restaurant with his friends, an invitation she had been forced to reject. Not that she disliked Sooyoung’s party, and meeting Jongin was a plus, but she had been looking forward to seeing some of her other friends again, those that were almost always present within Yixing’s circle.

‘Yifan was trying to trick me into drinking something disgusting again and Zhou Mi was heartbroken over yet another rejection from his ex girlfriend.’

‘Is Lu Han still plotting his revenge?’

‘You can bet on it.’ They both laughed quietly. A lull in the conversation followed, but not an unpleasant kind.

‘I’ve had some wine.’ She confessed, mindlessly. She knew that he wasn’t judging her, but compared to his saint self, she always felt like a dirty sinner for giving in to simple human pleasures.

‘I think I’ve already figured that out.’ There was a slight amusement in his voice. ‘I’m just glad you’re safe.’ He repeated. ‘Have good weekend, I’ll see you on Monday.’

‘Don’t stay up too long, reading about those polar bears. It helps nobody.’ She rumbled and disconnected, still hearing his chuckle in the background.

‘Was that Jongin?’ Sooyoung mindlessly asked, passing from the bathroom to the kitchen, tooth brush still in .

‘That was… yeah, Jongin.’ Wendy mumbled, closing her eyes and covering them with her forearm. She didn’t wanna hear another lecture on how you were not supposed to have whispered phone conversations with your boss at two in the morning.

Nothing spectacular happened over the weekend, except for a few texts from Jongin, to which she typed her reply very cautiously, and an email from Yixing about some ridiculous charity that he wanted to send money to (NO was the only word that she replied with) and battling her hangover the whole of two days. On Monday she was so late that she barely had time to put on some mascara and tie her messy hair in a bun, grabbing the first piece of clothing that she saw, which just happened to be a recently purchased pencil dress, still neatly packed away in a shopping bag. Black high heels would have to complete this unusual, for her, attire, she decided as she ran down the stairs and hailed the first taxi that appeared within her view.

As she said, she wasn’t an angel and the Earth would have to forgive her this morning, because she really couldn’t afford to waste even more time on the bus.

As soon as the taxi stopped in front of the main door of the company, she sprinted past the guard and into the elevator, trying to catch her breath. With the last effort, she jumped out of it and sending something, that dangerously resembled one of her pot plants, to the ground, she finally entered her little office, throwing her bag onto the desk and frantically looking for all the documents she needed, well, right this moment. Yixing was already in his room, that much she could tell from the commotion he was making. She continued standing with her back to the door when she heard him walking out, presumably to talk to her. She knew she would not be scolded, but his understanding words usually made her feel even worse.

Because he was perfect and she was definitely not.

‘I’m really sorry I’m late, I had a horrible night.’ It was true, she suffered a massive headache and despite laying down early, could not get a wink of sleep. ‘I have everything ready, if you can just give me a minute…‘

She turned around to face him, still fumbling with her papers but her voice gradually died down the moment she looked up. Her boss was looking at her strangely, apparently completely taken aback. He opened his mouth to say something but then he closed it again, ultimately deciding against it. Her hand shot up to hair blonde hair self consciously. That’s right, the hair. She had meant to dye it back to brown in shame over the weekend, but she had been just really too tired to even stand properly.

‘I know, my hair. I know it looks unprofessional, I’ll dye it back as soon as I can-‘

‘It’s really pretty.’ He interrupted her, quietly. ‘And your dress, too. You look even more lovely than usual.’

Wendy became flustered, not knowing how to respond. She wasn’t used to anyone telling her that she was pretty, and the discovery that her boss, of all people, had thought of her as such all along was quite disconcerting. She cleared in embarrassment.

‘The party on Friday… My friend forced me to try something new and I… anyway, I-I… I’ll just grab the folders and we can start. I’m really sorry, again.’ He nodded and went back to his room. When she heard him sit back on his chair, she released the air she didn’t realise she was holding in her lungs.

She found him deep in thought, sitting at his desk but when he looked up, he had the usual kind smile on his lips, as if the earlier exchange had not happened at all. She tried to put the miserable morning past her as she proceeded with her usual tasks.

Eleven o’clock struck when she finally had a moment to herself, having filled Yixing in on the recent developments with the contracts and answering tons of emails – nothing new here. She was just about to go down to the office kitchen and make herself that well deserved cup of coffee (she was really going wild this morning, wasn’t she) when her phone went off. She raised her eyebrow in curiosity as she looked at the caller ID. It was not every day that her brother called her all the way from across the sea.

‘Baekhyun?’ She answered hesitantly.

‘Do you have another brother?’ His sarcastic voice quickly dampened any good mood she might have had at the thought of talking to him.

‘You’re such a cheapskate, I would never suspect you of actually using your phone to make a long distance call.’ Her wit wasn’t up to par with his today but that would have to do.

He actually had the audacity to laugh.

‘Funny that you should mention it because it just happens that Chanyeol and I will be visiting Beijing soon and I thought, hey, whom better to stay with than my own sister?’

‘You must be kidding me.’ She deadpanned. ‘Can’t his company afford a hotel around? They are not even that expensive, you know.’

‘But I want to stay with you. I haven’t seen you in ages. You still live in the same flat, don’t you? Then you have a guest room for us.’ Came the chirpy reply.

Baekhyun had always seemed to be more in touch with his Korean roots than his older sister. While Wendy had been satisfied with her life in Canada, the only life that she had known at that point, her brother had had big plans of moving to Seoul right after his secondary school graduation and attending a fancy art university to become a fashion designer or something of that sort.

They were almost complete opposites of each other. While Wendy was a sarcastic but quiet wallflower, Baekhyun was what one could only describe as “flaming homoual”, daring, absolutely liberated and in touch with all his relevant selves. Wendy disliked her Korean name, but Baekhyun responded to that and that only, to the point when none of his family could even remember his English name. She had graduated from a university and major that her parents basically chose for her, while Baekhyun seemed to have managed to made all his dreams come true and ended up opening a small interior design and decoration company that was doing well as far as she could tell. She was cautious and organised, but he liked to live from day to day, rightfully saying that one should die, having no regrets.

All in all, they never really saw eye to eye, but there was just the right amount of sibling love between them, which had been put to a real test only once, about 18 months ago, all because of a certain man called Chanyeol.

Wendy sighed.

‘His company doesn’t want to pay for you, am I right?’

‘We’re just tagging along, really, so his uptight cousin refuses to spend any additional money on us. That man is freaking ridiculous, I swear.’ Baekhyun cursed under his breath. ‘But his girlfriend is going to close a deal with some company over there, and Suho feels the need to monitor her at all time, so he’s come up with this excuse that he wants to take a closer look at that Chinese company’s offer himself…  Chanyeol figured that if he can do it, so can we, so we’re basically going on holiday and sticking to Suho as close as possible, making him pay for all our food, at the very least.’

‘Poor man.’ Wendy shook her head, already pitying the said cousin.

‘Hardly.’ Baekhyun refuted, scoffing. ‘So can I count on you for having us? We’re going next Wednesday.’

‘I guess…  But I still have work so don’t dream about me entertaining you all day long. Once I’m done in the office, I’ll try to make time to take you shopping or whatever you want.’

‘It’s ok, we just need a place to sleep, that’s all.’ Baekhyun replied easily. The word sleep unavoidably reminded the girl of the bitter feelings that she still harboured towards her brother. She sighed.

 ‘I can’t believe you can still ask me so casually about having you and your boyfriend in my apartment. You know that it’s going to be extremely awkward to me.’ She was not mad at them anymore, more like exasperated, but at first, Baekhyun’s betrayal had burnt like fire.

‘What’s awkward about it?’

‘…I caught you to two in my bed, having .’ She deadpanned, still astounded at her brother’s cheekiness. ‘I caught you in my bed with my boyfriend, whom I also had with before, by the way, and you’re asking me how that’s awkward? How is that not awkward?’

‘Oh please, you were still at that stage of a relationship where you don’t even know if you truly like the other person or not, so you have to see if you are at least compatible in bed and can take it from there. Clearly, you were not, because your boyfriend preferred to . It’s not your fault, though, you know that if I really want to, I can turn anyone Baek-ual.’

‘You’re horribly crude, you know that, right? And full of yourself.’ Wendy massaged her temple with one hand, hoping for the inevitable headache to somehow go away.

‘So I’ve been told.’ He chuckled on the other side.

Just then, Wendy noticed Yixing who had exited his office and cleared his throat to draw her attention. She nodded at him, quickly.

‘Baekhyun, I need to go. My boss needs me.’

‘Your boss still as hot as ever?’ Baekhyun asked lewdly and Wendy definitely had enough of their conversation.

‘Allow me not to answer your very inappropriate question.’

‘Fine, but we can stay at your apartment, right?’ He made sure one more time.

‘Knock on my door on Wednesday and find out whether I open or not.’ She sing-songed, hanging up on him.

Her life was too complicated for a simple person like herself.

‘I didn’t mean to interrupt…’ Yixing started but Wendy only shook her head and stood up.

‘You interrupted nothing and anyway, I’m at work. What did you need?’

‘Just to look through the final draft of the contract with Red Velvet industries. When did you say they were coming?’

‘We have an appointment next Thursday for lunch. The owner will come to personally ensure our smooth cooperation. They are not a big company, so they still have full control over the innovation they introduce to their systems.’

They walked back to his office together and spent the next half an hour correcting what needed to be corrected. Wendy’s head was throbbing – she was hungry and hadn’t had time for coffee.

‘Was that your brother that you were on the phone with, just now?’ Yixing inquired softly, albeit hesitantly.

‘Yes, he’s coming to Beijing with his boyfriend and wants to stay in my house.’ She shrugged.

‘Are you going to be ok?’ He asked again, seeing how she was reluctant to share anything else. There was clear concern in his eyes.

‘Don’t worry. Honestly, I don’t care about that incident at all, I’ve got over it.’ Yixing was one of the few people that knew what happened between Wendy and Baekhyun, mainly because they spent a lot of time together and she had burst out crying during one of their morning briefings. After that, there was no way of getting out of telling him the whole story. ‘More than anything, I felt betrayed because siblings were not supposed to steal each other’s boyfriends. As for Chanyeol, we would have never worked out, anyway, so in a way, it was a blessing in disguise that I learnt about it sooner than later.’

‘Well, if you need me, I’m here.’ He offered and she nodded, smiling.

‘I know, but thank you, as always.’

‘Should we go get lunch? I’m starving.’ He stood up, stretching his hands above his head.

When they left the building, it soon became apparent that Wendy and her tight dress did not belong anywhere near Yixing’s scooter. She blushed in guilt, feeling that she had broken some unspoken agreement between them. He blinked a few times, looking for a simple solution to their problem, before he put away his helmet and took out his cell instead.

‘Let’s just call for a taxi today.’ He decided quickly and dialled the appropriate number. Wendy’s eyes widened in shock and guilt, because she basically forced him to do something he didn’t like to do. Additionally, she feared that two taxi rides in one day would send her straight to eco hell.

‘We don’t have to. We can just.. hmmm…  There is a reason why you always ride your scooter so how about we-‘

‘It’s true that I don’t like to use cars when I don’t have to, but I am well aware of their practicality and comfort. We can’t have you ruin your pretty dress because of my stubbornness.’ He looked at her, amused. He was a lot taller than her, too, so she had to raise her chin higher, trying to guess if he was sincere. He smiled at her, amused. ‘Really, one ride won’t kill me. Although then again, it’s Beijing, so who knows.’

That relaxed her and she burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she actually ended up squatting on the ground, hugging her sides. Yixing just continued looking at her, mirth in his eyes.

‘I never thought I was this funny. Way to boost a guy’s self confidence.’ She wiped the tear that escaped her left eye, still grinning widely.

‘It’s been a horrible morning so yeah, thanks for that. I feel completely refreshed now. Let’s go, the taxi should be here soon.’

On Wednesday, she received a phone call from Jongin and agreed to have early dinner with him after both got out of work. To be quite honest, she had been so preoccupied with making sure that everything was perfect before the Korean delegation arrived that she had simply forgotten about the guy altogether. What was even weirder, Sooyoung did not bother her about their possible date at all.

In one of the rare times that both her and Yixing finished their work at the same time, he would always insist on giving her a ride home, but today she just waved him off with a smile and waited in front of the company building like she had discussed with Jongin. Yixing was still standing there, telling her how he would take two weeks off in the summer and fly to Alaska to help save sea lions from the constant oil spills happening in that area and all she could think of was that Zhang Yixing was indeed a saint. He was rich, handsome, kind and a saint.

She had no idea where those thoughts even came from but they did, and she was in the middle of shamelessly admiring him (like she had a weird habit of, every once in a while) when a car stopped right in front of her and both Wendy and Yixing halted their conversation, turning their heads around to look at the newcomer.

Jongin rolled down the passenger window and smiled at her, briefly nodding at the man standing next to her.

‘Get in. I have managed to book that restaurant I talked to you on the phone about.’ Wendy blinked several times, furring her brows in consternation and then she realised that her boss was doing the exact same thing. Great, her date had arrived and both her and Yixing were looking at the man as if he had grown a second head.

‘Is there something wrong?’ Jongin inquired unsurely, after a moment of getting no reaction out of Wendy. She quickly smiled.

‘Of course not. Let’s go.’ She turned to Yixing. ‘Your idea is wonderful, I love it. Let’s finish this conversation later, I would really like to hear more about it.’ He nodded, the smile not quite reaching his eyes but she was already making her way to the vehicle and Jongin sped off immediately, before she even had time to wave at Yixing.

‘Seriously, is there something wrong?’ Jongin asked after a moment of silence. ‘And was that your boss?’

‘No, there is nothing wrong, I just did not realise that you would come driving a car, that’s it. I usually just take the subway, or the bus. And yes, that was Mr. Zhang.’

‘I see. As for the car, I’ve just bought it recently, the traffic can be heavy sometimes, but it still beats having to transfer trains all day long…’ Jongin looked satisfied and Wendy didn’t feel like bursting his bubble, so she just smiled. She should really stop being so judgemental, she decided, and since when did she suddenly start hating on comfortable cars and air conditioning?

They made small talk all the way to the restaurant and soon stopped at an Italian place in downtown. They entered and were led to their table, after which they ordered quickly – Jongin went for the steak, fish was for Wendy.

‘Frankly, I was hesitant as to whether I should call you.’ He started, setting the menu aside. ‘We seemed to hit it off on Friday, I really enjoyed talking to you, but from our conversation, I got an impression that you were already involved. With your boss, I mean.’ Wendy chocked on the water that she was drinking, contracting and forcefully trying to rid itself of the liquid that accumulated in there.

‘Are you ok?’ he asked in concern.

‘Why… why would you say that?’ She looked at him, eyes widening.

‘Well, you kept bringing him into the conversation at random times – and praising him all the time. I got an impression that he was flawless and that you had a serious crush on him, to say the least.’

‘Oh my god, no, I don’t have a crush on my boss. That’s not true at all.’ She reddened. ‘But to be honest, he is flawless. He’s a saint. He’s kind to old ladies met on the street and cares about every living organisms, even the imaginary ones. In fact, he was just telling me that he was planning to help save sea lions in the summer-‘

‘You’re doing it again. You’re talking about him with that glint in your eyes.’ Jongin observed, a light smirk forming on his mouth. She quickly made a zipping motion over her lips.

‘Stopping right now.’ She promised. ‘So, how was your day?’

They had a nice chat that evening, although it didn’t seem like she had that many things in common with Jongin. He was a surprisingly carefree type who like her, also came to China to figure out his future, “adult” life, but unlike her, he usually went with the flow of things. And so, those three years of living in Beijing had basically turned him into a full time Korean language teacher, something which he rather enjoyed.

He liked rock concerts, like pretty much all young men his age, but Wendy was more of a classical music person; she loved animals whereas he didn’t care much for them; finally, he was not at all conscious of nature and ecology, something that made up the majority of her life at that moment. She couldn’t related to him at all and it was quite frustrating. He was definitely somebody that she could become friends with, but despite his boyish looks and charming smile, she felt…. Well, not much.

Maybe it was too early – after all, she felt this way about most of the men that she had previously met with romantic interest in heart. Relationships were all about compromise, not perfect compatibility, was what her mother always said, yet somehow, Wendy felt that by agreeing with this statement, she would automatically settle for something less than what she actually deserved. And she didn’t like this feeling one bit.

She was comfortable the way she was, living alone but free to do her own thing, and she knew that she could only make space in her small life for somebody that recognised her values and who would just get her, not having to compromise on anything more than what brand of cereal they would buy from the supermarket or whether to watch Vicious for the millionth time, as opposed to choosing a new TV addiction.

So far, she couldn’t really make up her mind about Jongin fitting her perfect picture. But then again, maybe it was too early to be so serious. She sighed, pulling her pillow from underneath her head and instead placing it on her face, resigned. It was going to be yet another long night.

There were only two things on Wendy’s mind for the rest of the week. One, unsurprisingly, was the contract with Red Velvet Industries. Another one was the preparation for Yixing’s birthday party.

The guest list had finally been shortened to 55 of her boss’s relatives and closest friends, and after making sure that the restaurant hall had been properly booked for the occasion, Wendy hired the catering company. Yixing’s mother did not like the menu offered but the assistant could not yield to the elder in this respect – it had to be fully vegetarian, just like she knew Yixing would wish for. There was a great variety to choose from and she was certain the guests would enjoy their meal, but to persuade the celebrant’s mother was another thing altogether.

Wendy had long realised that Yixing was a complete opposite from his own parents who led a normal, quiet life in the capital’s suburbia. She had met his mother first, and later his father too, for Yixing had taken her to meet them on some occasion. Especially his mother was a sweetheart and treated Wendy really well, utilising her existence as a means to get through to her son, whom she could never really fully understand. Wendy knew that her boss loved both his parents dearly, but sometimes lacked the patience that it took to explain his reasoning and actions that followed, therefore his assistant had unconsciously become the channel through which the two spheres communicated. This way, everyone could live peacefully.

Well, everyone but Wendy, who had the dubiously pleasant task of explaining to her clueless boss how he should really talk to his parents about something else, other than dead animals, at least every once in a while.

His mother had wanted to gift him a proper suit for his birthday and asked Wendy to pick one that would go well with his lifestyle and position, so the girl did as requested. This, however, only reminded her further of her own indecisiveness – it was one thing that her boss pretty much already had everything that he needed, but she also just couldn’t find that perfect gift for him. She knew him so well, yet nothing she looked at in the shopping centre caught her attention. It was hopeless.

Finally, Saturday came and as previously agreed, Wendy was to lure Yixing out to the restaurant where the party was held, pretending to ask him to accompany her to an art gallery opening. His actual birthday wasn’t until Sunday, which meant that he would really not suspect her of any ulterior motives.

He had seen leaving for a date with Jongin already, but he never questioned why she hadn’t asked the other man, instead, so it worked out perfectly.

Yixing surprised her – when he came to pick her up in her flat, he gave her flowers and gentlemanly offered his arm for support. What made her even more flustered was the fact, that she suddenly wished they were actually going to the promised event, just the two of them. It almost, almost seemed like a date, the only real obstacle that prevented her from picturing it being her inability to  wrap her head around going out with her boss.

He was so perfect that he sometimes felt like a figment of her imagination.

But she was in for yet another start when they left the building – Yixing ushered her towards a black car that he had apparently driven himself. She looked at him, not understanding. He just smiled.

‘As I previously said, there is time for a scooter and there is time for a car. I wouldn’t dream of using the former for a special event like this one.’

‘But you… you don’t have a car.’ She pointed out, still hesitant.

‘I just rented it for the occasion. Let’s not make a big deal out of it.’ He shrugged and opened the door for her.

Wendy felt mostly horrible – she had practically made Yixing drive a car he didn’t like, to his own birthday party. However, a very small part of her was also pleasantly flattered. It was not so hard to try a bit for a girl, after all, she thought to herself. If Yixing did all those things for somebody whom he was just on friendly terms with, she couldn’t imagine how he would act towards an actual lover. This only further reassured her that she did right by proceeding cautiously into a potential relationship with Jongin, or pretty much anybody else. It was ok to have standards by which to stand.

The only problem that Wendy had with that resolution, really, was that Yixing set the said standards so high for all the other men in her life, that she feared nobody else would ever be able to even match, let alone surpass them. Because there was no other man like her boss.

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Changdeol says: You can expect an update next weekend after I'm back from Tokyo~` Yay for family trips.