Complications

“Will it count towards my hours?” you ask, knowing it’ll egg her on.

“You’re the supervisor now! It comes with extra responsibilities,” she rolls her eyes. She’s still naked in your bed, wrapped around your arms.

“Just not sure about doing… free labour. Especially since you, Ms. Manager, are a walking HR violation I have to deal with every day. Seems this job is getting more and more sweatshoppy.”

Chaewon pinches your arm. “I’m an HR violation? You came on my face in the supply closet.”

“Only because you asked for a massage.”

“Well you—” she drones on.

Yeah, safe to say you and Chaewon are back to normal.

2 minutes ago she was asleep soundly in your bed. But when her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at you with a smile, to then talk about work! You knew you had to tease her. Anyway, despite your bickering, you make a mental note that, on Chaewon’s orders, you and Yunjin are to hang posters around the city sometime this week.

“I’m using your shower, get a towel ready for me,” Chaewon demands.

Things are mostly back to normal now that you and Chaewon are on good terms. And by good terms, you mean Chaewon calling you in the wee hours of the night asking: “Why isn’t the time sheet updated?”, or “You ordered way too much milk today”. Yeah, supervisor duties. Still, though, it’s nice that you can talk back to her when she does call.

And of course, that talking back isn’t really talking back, just banter.

So it’s weird that you still feel like something is off. Hmm, maybe it’s your spring allergies.

But when you’re walking home from work one night (alone, Eunchae was in a rush and left on her own), throat clear of mucus, you realize it can’t be spring allergies. No, actually, it’s Eunchae.

It’s hard to pinpoint what about Eunchae. In fact, you were just goofing off together on your shift. She still smiles mischievously whenever she’s purposefully being annoying— which is pretty much all the time. And of course you don’t actually find it annoying, you just pretend you do because it makes Eunchae laugh.

It’s in your head, then. Yeah, she’ll text you tonight anyway, You guys are good.

But you fall asleep with your phone in your hand, still silent.

“Wanna come? We’re going Sunday,” you say, shining a glass cup in your hand for the sixth time.

“I think that glass is streak-free,” Eunchae nods. “And you want me to come hang posters?”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun!”

“Right,” she says sarcastically, “fun.”

“Oh, come on,” you whine, leaning back on the counter. “You have to come!” You say with oh so much more vigour than you usually would.

“You sound like me,” she laughs. “Can we like, do something else?”

“Something else? I’m pretty busy this week— what did you have in mind?”

She leans back on the counter, foot stretching out towards you. It lands on your thigh, dangerously close to your nether region.

“I think we could think of something.” She smiles.

You’re taken aback that there’s a foot (shoe and everything!) on your thigh, but also because she’s being so blatantly flirty.

But should you be? You stand there stunned, but yeah, you should’ve known this. Eunchae has been asking you to hang out, even insinuating things she’d like to do with you ever since, oh, your little escapade in the washroom.

And then there was last week, where you spent pretty well all your time making posters, save for a moment - a moment where you walked her home and declared: ‘you’re my best friend, Eunchae’. You haven’t really been acting like it, though.

She sees your hesitation, and says “right, next time then,” and it’s not bitter. That’s what kills you the most, really. That she’s not even bitter about it. She doesn’t hold it against you because she knows you’re busy, or at least, she’s trying not to seem like she is. What was that she told you at that staff party all those weeks ago? That she used to be… pushy? And she didn’t want to be anymore?

She turns towards the kitchen.

“Wait!” You scream, which is weird, because she’s still only 3 feet away from you.

She turns back, something in her eyes lighting up.

“Saturday! I’m free Saturday.”

The smile on her face makes your heart skip a beat. “Okay, Saturday then.”

“Just you and me.”

You look around your apartment, figuring out what the hell to wear.

The plan to ‘hang out’ has immediate effects - the texts Eunchae usually showers you with late at night return in full force, and you think: maybe this is easy. Eunchae isn’t so much high maintenance, just, needs some love.

And you today, Saturday, you plan on giving her that love.

Coming in sweats seems okay, right? Or is that much too casual? No, you don’t think so. She’s been dropping— no launching hints at you. Hints that she wants to… fuck again. It’s weird, thinking about it. Yeah, you always do somehow end up making love to almost every girl in your life. Except Yunjin. But planning to do that? Going over to Eunchae’s for the express purpose of sex? It feels strangely embarrassing.

And plus, you just told her you were her best friend. Is this the sort of stuff best friends do? You sure as hell didn’t do it with your high school best friend. Would’ve been an awkward endeavor with one too many sticks involved.

The more you think about it, the less normal it seems. But what’s there to do? It’s Eunchae. She’s bright, funny, a beacon of laughter whenever you need it, so cute she could make a mime chuckle. But she’s also unbelievably hot at times. Yeah, maybe those times are when her body is pressed against yours, which again, is the root of the problem.

You’re definitely weak willed, because just the thought of her body pressed against you is enough to steel your resolve. Gray sweats it is.

“That’s what you’re wearing?” She asks, judgmental smile lining her face.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with it?”

“I thought we were hanging out?” She asks.

“Yeah, me too. I’m so ready to hang out.” You say, overenunciating the last words to indicate innuendo.

She cracks the door open a little more, revealing a nice pair of jeans and a white tube top.

Fuck. “Oh-”

“It’s okay, I think you look cute. Where did you want to go?” She slides out of her apartment, and her outfit really is nice. Yours pales in comparison, which seems pretty common for you these days.