"Come on Juju! There has to be someone at least!" Lia insisted, followed by more ushering and cheers from the crowd as Richard simply smiled secretively at Jumin; their group of college batch-mates (or Richard and Lias's friends, really) had decided to go on an outing to the beach today. And seeing the evening had been perfect to end with a bonfire—they'd decided to play spin the bottle with one of the beer bottles that'd been left empty after they'd finished.
"There's no way our Mister Robot has never had a crush on anyone before, it just sounds unrealistic! Everyone has a crush on someone at some point, okay?" Dohyun—Richard's classmate—stated.
"You'll have to be more specific about your definition of 'crush'—since for someone who hasn't had one before, I might even not know what it means," Jumin replied back simply.
Kate, Dohyun's girlfriend who sat hugging his arm, replied. "Well … there's no specific definition of a crush, you know? It's just signs." Jumin frowned at that, visibly curious.
"What signs?" His question caused a roar of laughter to erupt among the boys, and Eugene, the drunk one out of the group stood up to announce.
"You know! When you have butterflies in your stomach as soon as you see them, whenever you think about them—the red blood cells in your body decide to take trips to your cheeks and… ahem, other places." He slurred, staggering on Kate who pushed him away with a 'hey!'
Jumin pondered, smiling faintly to himself at the realization, "I did have a crush on a girl back when I was in school." The crowd cheered, but were silenced by Richard who decided to get up,
"You guys, up. It's getting late and none of us wants to hear an earful from our parents when they return home. Up!"
Jumin sighed once again, toying with the tip of the diamond tip pen his father had gifted him not too long ago—absently flipping through the fiscal report present in front of him. It wasn't as if there was anything to check in it, to begin with—assistant Kang had made sure to double-check everything before she passed it to him, and had there been any issue, she'd have told him anyway.
Tired of staring at the already perfected report, his eyes strayed outside the window, where assistant Kang was talking to some woman whose face was hidden by the person standing in front of her.
However, the person moved away not long after and—! Jumin's eyes widened. This can't be … he quickly reached over to call assistant Kang, who picked up instantly.
"Yes, sir?" she replied monotonously. Jumin cleared his throat, before asking,
"Are you busy at the moment, assistant Kang?" His question was met with silence—by Jaehee who was still not used to this sudden change in Jumin's behaviour.
He doesn't usually ask these questions before asking what is needed of me… she wondered, giving the woman in front of her an apologetic smile before continuing, "No, Mr Yoon. I am free if you need me.���
Jumin craned his neck to get a better view, but the image was still not clear, "Keep the visitor occupied, I'd like to meet them." he added, before hanging up to grab his coat from the chair behind him and strutting out of the cabin.
And true to his assumption, it really was her. Ophelia Chan stood there, wearing her dazzling smile beside Jaehee who looked at Jumin like he'd grown an extra nose. But he couldn't bring himself to care about Jaehee at the moment, and instead turned to Ophelia.
"Ms Chan, what brings you here?" he asked, stretching a hand out which she took in hers instantly.
"Oh it's because the team was done with the SWOT analysis, and since I was free today—I thought I'd drop by to hand over the progress documents to you guys myself." She replied, a little hesitant as she glanced at Jaehee who was still staring at Jumin, bewildered.
"A good decision," Jumin replied, letting go of her hand when she glanced down at it—as if passing him a silent reminder that he'd been holding on to it.
"Funnily enough, I'm free too. So I'd like to… look into the analysis results myself. That way I can explain it to our team as well." He added, unsure—but Ophelia nodded instantly, making him more confident in his words.
"And I have this café I've been meaning to try too, so perhaps you could tell me the details over a cup of coffee?" He finished, and Ophelia agreed within a beat.
"I'd love to!"
Later when they were leaving for the café, Jumin caught a glimpse of himself in the elevator door—the uncharacteristically dopey grin on his face catching him off guard. "So this is why assistant Kang looked like that…" he murmured without realizing.
Ophelia, standing beside him, sniggered to herself—making Jumin turn to her. "Did I look too weird?" he questioned, making Ophelia laugh out loud. But somehow it didn't make him feel embarrassed, and instead, he felt an odd sense of accomplishment after making her laugh.
The elevator dinged once they reached the basement, and her giggles having subsided, Ophelia placed a hand on his shoulder before rising on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"You never look weird."
The action left Jumin frozen in his place, and before he could even respond, Ophelia strode out as the doors opened. She turned to give him a glance over her shoulder,
"Are you going to follow me or—?" she raised an eyebrow.
Of course, I am. He smiled, before striding out.
Once having arrived the café, the two sat in tranquil silence—with Jumin eyeing his drink (a caramel frappe, something Ophelia insisted he should try) with interest, and Ophelia in return eyeing Jumin with a similar interest mirrored in her eyes.
"What?" catching her stare, Jumin asked. And while most would turn their eyes away, Ophelia's eyes remained unmoved, and instead, she pursed her lips around the straw—sipping her drink before finally replying.
"It's just, you stand out a lot." She shrugged, glancing at the others present in the café. And it wasn't entirely wrong. Out of all places, Jumin concurred Starbucks wasn't somewhere people wore three-piece business suits to.
"In a bad way or good way?" he questioned immediately, making Ophelia smile.
"Good, I suppose. You fill those suits really nicely." Her comment made him choke on the sip of his coffee—followed by coughing that she simply giggled at.
"I'm so sorry, it was something that needed to be said."
"No need to apologize, I simply wasn't expecting that." Jumin replied awkwardly, with a bashful smile of his own, "Thank you."
He was rewarded with another smile, and the two continued to sit in silence together, the original purpose of their visit forgotten entirely. And truth be told, Jumin hadn't exactly forgotten, but he wasn't going to ruin it by bringing up work now, (what if she thinks I'm robotic and boring like everyone? He reasoned.) Besides, it was rare that quiet between two people was so comfortable; even in silence, Ophelia Chan was excellent company.
No, he wasn't going to bring up work anytime soon.
"Have you ever had a crush on anyone, Ophelia?" out of sudden, Jumin asked. Ophelia—who had been staring out of the window—hummed in response, her eyebrows pinching together as if she were concentrating.
"I don't think so, nope." She replied, to which Jumin countered almost instantly. "That's not possible, everyone has a crush on someone at least once in their life."
Ophelia turned to him with a bemused look on her face, "Well, I still have time. Maybe my first 'crush'—" she emphasized with air quotations, "has yet to come in my life. It's just… I don't think I ever got the time. Growing up, we constantly kept moving, so I never stayed in one place for too long. Its better, if you think about it now, at least I never had to suffer heartbreak."
Her words made an involuntary tug rise at the corners of Jumin's mouth, as he took another spoonful of the whipped cream on the top of his cup. "And what about currently? Do you have a crush on someone?"
In response, Ophelia reached forward to take a spoonful of whipped cream from his cup—earning herself a confused glance—before she replied slyly, "Wouldn't you like to know?" she gave him a cheeky wink, making Jumin raise a brow, before adding. "What about you? Does Mr Chairman has had a crush on someone before?"
Jumin mirrored her look with a cock of his head, "Wouldn't you like to know?"