BEHIND THE SCENES

chapter 33: monster in me

<OST: Winter Flower - Younha ft. RM>

"Hyejin-ssi!" Hoseok smiled as he placed a cup of iced coffee on Hyejin's table. "How's your work going?"

Hyejin looked up, unimpressed. "Yes, sunbae-nim? How may I help you?"

"Ah-" Hoseok gestured at the iced coffee on the table. "Here! I got this for you."

"Thank you, sunbae-nim."

Hoseok smiled at her. "Mm."

Hyejin furrowed her eyebrows. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, nothing-" Hoseok looked awfully suspicious. "Work hard."

"I will, sunbae-nim."

Hoseok hung around awkwardly.

"Mm..." Hyejin looked up at him. "Anything else...?"

"No, no, no-" Hoseok chuckled loudly as he pushed the iced coffee towards her. "Remember to drink this. Oh, also - feel free to ask me anything if you have any doubts."

"Sure," Hyejin said with a weirded out smile, not used to receiving this much attention from Hoseok. "Thanks, sunbae-nim."

"Okay then-" Hoseok backed away slowly towards his desk. "I'll be right over there if you need me."

"Okay."

"Mm..." Hoseok was still not leaving. "Remember - don't be shy, I'm always here to help."

"Sure."

"Remember, I am your sunbae-nim so-"

Hyejin let out an awkward smile. "Yes, sunbae-nim. I gotcha."

"Okay, good."

Hoseok left a few minutes later, sat back down in his seat and heaved a big sigh. "Wow, I actually think I'm lowkey afraid of Hyejin-ssi."

"You're really pathetic, Jung Hoseok-ssi." Chungha sighed as she shook her head. "You really are doing all you can just to win that bet, aren't you?"

"No, I'm not?" Hoseok rolled his eyes. "Don't you know what this is called? It's called caring for your colleagues, Kim Chungha. Well, I guess you won't ever really know since you've never cared much about your colleagues."

"Excuse you?" Chungha laughed mockingly. "Just because I don't care for you doesn't mean I haven't cared about the rest."

"Hey-"

"Let's set some ground rules, okay? Since you've been going overboard with the favours you've been doing for Hyejin-ssi." Chungha sighed as she gestured at the pile of snacks on Hyejin's table, all provided by Hoseok. "Firstly, let's not do that."

"I told you I'm just caring for my colleague-"

"Do you see snacks stacked up on anyone else's desk other than Hyejin-ssi's?" Chungha shook her head. "No. So let's not do that."

Hoseok whined. "You called Jieun-ssi this morning to check on her progress too-"

"That is allowed," Chungha declared. "We're only allowed to check in on them and give them advice - no snacks, no drinks, no meals. And most importantly, no putting in a good word to bujang-nim for them."