#figure out what song inspired this one from the nct album and i'll love u lol

[dropsofletters]

smeared champagne

Title: smeared champagne Pairing: Johnny Seo/Reader Genre: Office!AU Summary: She should be easy to forget, like a champagne stain on his white button up, but Johnny compares her to something stronger. Insomnia, tattoos, red wine, a memory that replays in the back of his mind as he ponders if soul mates really exist. Note: You can read previous parts when clicking on the member’s name, if you want. |regular: yuta|;|irregular: mark|;|regular: taeyong|

People aren’t supposed to be drinking at their workplaces.

People aren’t supposed to do a lot of things, but freedom always seemed so enticing and it called out people’s names most of the time, like a person at the club calling them with a flicker in their eyes and a movement of their fingers. In the office she works at, there are a lot of rules to follow – never deliver a project late because that will immediately get you fired, never date any of your coworkers, never eat at the cubicles, never enter an office without knocking and most importantly, no drinking alcohol at the office. She could have gone anywhere else instead of following Johnny into his office, but she was alone late at night with a project that the boss had asked her to work on after he fired someone that couldn’t complete it and Johnny was also there, supposedly celebrating the fact that he had signed a contract for the company that will make it earn millions, meaning that he will probably get quite bit more of money too.

Johnny’s personality speaks of freedom, of not caring about important things on the weekend and just enjoy life with a flicker inside his eyes that could make anyone believe that he was right. His hands brought the door of his office open, totally different from one of the cubicles that she works at from time to time, and she is half hypnotized by the smell of his cologne. That time around, his black hair was lifted up by a bit of gel to keep it out of his eyes, a little curve created because of his otherwise long bangs. His soft colored eyebrows are shown by that, the expanse of his diamond shaped face welcoming hooded eyes, wide nostrils and puckered up lips that made him seem as if he was always pouting about something. His suit is fitted, even when she would have imagined him to undo his tie once he is over with work but it seemed like she was wrong all along.

His fingers show her a bottle of champagne and it isn’t uncommon for them to have drinks or dinner from time to time. Johnny is one of the few people she likes at that office and she was no stranger to Johnny’s antics, but she had never drunk with him at the office. He is pretty good friends with Taeyong too, so she doesn’t know if any personal argument could lead to Johnny spilling this little encounter to the son of the boss. “Let yourself go for once.” Johnny says after he sees the stare on the woman’s face, scanning his office as she plays with the collar of her turtleneck fitted shirt.

“I’m not worried.” She replies as she licks the inside of her cheek, feeling a bit threatened by the fact that he thinks she can’t break rules. There had been plenty of times when she had done so, just that she couldn’t risk losing her job just because that bottle of champagne in Johnny’s hand looked enticing and Johnny was probably just half as alluring too. “It’s not my first time drinking, either, so I don’t see why I should be worried-”

“Worried is not what I was going for.  Stressed, maybe?” Stressed, that was something that she had been lately. After the entrance of a new employee in the company, a female with a sweeter personality and far less honest words, she was left with the position that she is in right now while the other newer woman got a promotion. Now her nemesis had an assistant called Jungwoo who could have been her assistant if only she hadn’t been ignored completely on getting this new position in her workplace. “Bingo.”

Johnny places the bottle of champagne over his desk and he opens it, hissing when a bit of foam came out. “What makes you think I am stressed?”

“You’ve been snappy; it’s not rocket science.” Johnny tells her and then, he leans forward, pouring the champagne on two glasses that he had brought with himself and she picks up the drink once it’s served for her. The taste is bubbly and sweet as it runs over her tongue and then it reaches her throat, watching Johnny as he sits at the edge of his desk with a smile on his face. “Cheers-”

She clinks her glass with his but she cringes at the sight of it, a short laugh leaving her lips when she realizes that there is a bit of confusion in Johnny’s face as he sips champagne. “I hate the whole ‘cheers’ thing.  It’s awkward.”

Johnny takes another sip of his glass and he was halfway through finishing it, he would probably end up drunk if he continued to drink like that. Not that Johnny seemed lightweight, but she made a mental note of reminding him that he still needed to go to work and she wasn’t going to let him drink a lot. “You hate a lot of things.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“I know, but no one hates me in this office.” Johnny replies and she wishes it was a lie, but it was the absolute truth. Everyone seemed to hate her, that was another thing, her bossy voice and the way she wants to do everything by herself was a constant reminder for her coworkers to know that she doesn’t like team work, she doesn’t enjoy people being around her and handling works that she knows she can do well. Part of her thinks that she has grown used to being like this and that there was no way of changing it, but the lunchtimes being alone and the arguments with other coworkers could get to her someday. Someday, not today, not tomorrow, certainly not a week after that but one day when she was lonely enough to consider listening to other people’s opinions. “Why does everyone hate you, though?”

She chuckles, deciding to drink once again because things were getting fun once again. “Bitchy, trust issues, screams at times when she is stressed and a perfectionist.  I guess no one would really like me.”

“And does that bother you?”

She chuckles, dryly and ironically. “Not really. I take my job seriously…but it seems like that doesn’t even matter anymore because any shithole can get a good position in this company.” Which was half true. There were plenty of good workers but the fact that there was someone out there that had done almost nothing but being nice and she got a better position than her fueled her senses of anger and then, she takes a sip once again.

“Ooh, burn.” Johnny coos and then, he lifts his eyebrows as he pours himself another glass.

“Hey, hey, there…easy.  I don’t want you drunk around the office.” She tells him and Johnny nods his head, completely understanding that if the security guard ever got to see them there, they would most likely be in a lot of trouble. Johnny’s brown eyes send a glare at her before taking a sip of his champagne, tapping his finger against the surface of the glass to ease the silence between them. Suddenly, her voice filled the cold room with an uneasy tone. “And it’s not a burn. I just know that there are some people here that don’t deserve their position.”

“And what can you do about it?”

“Nothing.”

“So why complain?” Johnny asks and she crosses one leg over the other, feeling like even when Johnny’s points of view were completely different from hers, he was the only person who didn’t seem to be intimidated by her and that was oddly refreshing. It felt as if she was a tiger, people expecting her from afar as they saw the rough side of her, but they never dared to acknowledge that it was in her nature to be that way…that something must have gone wrong in her environment and she could only work in self-defense.

“I have to complain,” She tells Johnny with an exasperated sigh following her words. “I have worked my ass off in this company for three and a half years and the only thing I get is Taeyong saying ‘uh…sorry…my dad said you weren’t picked for that position just yet’.  I have all the fucking right to complain!” So maybe she shouldn’t be drinking with Johnny, but who cares?  She wasn’t an important person in that company and it seemed like she would never be.

“I also worked here for plenty of years as an intern before getting my current job.” Johnny explains and then, he leans forward in a way that made his thighs contract against the material of his pants and she licked her lips to distract herself from the sight. “You just have to distract yourself a bit so it doesn’t…well, bother you as much.”

“It will still bother me.” She replies, only to lean forward on her seat. “But go on.  What’s your plan?”

“A date.” The moment Johnny says those words; her face falls at the idea of going out on a date with Johnny. He must like to have casual dates, maybe a movie getaway or some kind of cheap dinner, but there was something inside her brain that told her that if he was talking about himself, she could accept without a problem. It’s Johnny, after all.

“A date…?”

Johnny nods his head and he searches through his phone, showing her a picture of a guy with plush lips, thick eyebrows, rounded cheeks and what seemed to be black luscious hair. He was handsome, a bit stoic faced too, and certainly not Johnny. “This is a guy I know, Do Kyungsoo and he nags a lot, just like you do, so I thought you two could go on a date-”

“You’re drunk.” She adds with a shake of her head before diving in her drink but Johnny hisses.

“No!  I’m serious! You don’t know if this is what you need. Someone to distract you, maybe?” Johnny is trying to get inside her brain and truthfully, she wanted to tell him to get off her back and let her do whatever she pleased, for she certainly didn’t need to date to feel less stressed. “Come on, I already set it up inside my head and everything.”

“Do I have a say on this?” Johnny nods his head and then, she realizes that maybe it is not a bad idea after all. Uneventful? Yes. Bad?  Certainly not. “Okay, I will if you stop drinking right now.”

Johnny puckers up his lips and with a gruff, he closes the bottle of champagne as he hops off the desk and sends her a glare. “I stopped drinking because I wanted to.”

And it sounded like a great idea, like the plenty of good ideas that had spilled from Johnny Seo’s lips…but…no, it was the worst idea he could have ever had.

Serious and insanely gentlemanly should be the type of man she likes, with a deep voice to shatter her earth and a conversation that always goes to something deeper, almost as if she was having a class instead of a normal conversation that led to a date. There was something about Kyungsoo that didn’t pull her in, perhaps because she thought the man was quite too stiff when he was with her, as if he was scared of making any mistake. It was a cute gesture at the start of the date when he couldn’t even eat properly without fidgeting a bit but then, when it came down to the last part of the date and he had gotten to kiss her, she had realized that no matter how good of a kisser he was, how good looking or serious or everything she had ever wanted in a man he could be…he just wasn’t her cup of tea as a possible partner. She liked her men funny and a bit awkward, more often than not teases that had her getting mad in the matter of seconds…but when wasn’t she mad, again?

She was angry that morning as she tried to organize the papers stacked on top of her cubicle with the help of…nobody, because no one would help someone as grumpy as her. The boss had decided to bring her back the project she had delivered with revisions and things she has to change only a day before it was distributed and not only that, but the boss had also made a mess out of the sheets of paper in which her project was and she had forgotten to enumerate them. A raged sigh leaves her lips as she stacks a few papers together and she tries to find the document in her disorganized computer. Weren’t there two teenage kids that came in every night or so to organize the computers so everything was stacked evenly? This Mark guy was certainly not doing his job right because she couldn’t find her document-

She feels a warm hand being placed over her shoulder and she looks up to see a Styrofoam cup being placed over her desk, the large hand and the suit giving away that Johnny was by her side. The man had a huge smile on his face, almost teasing, but then it dropped down when he saw her face. “Didn’t the date help?” He asks and she sighs, rubbing her temple and taking a long swing of the drink to realize that it wasn’t her favorite, but Johnny’s.  Had he given her his cup of coffee?

“Kyungsoo…is not my type and we kissed and all but there wasn’t a spark, but I’m not stressed out about that.” Johnny should have expected it, they were too much of the same and honestly, he was thankful that she hadn’t been snappy or cold at Kyungsoo, but he had also heard from his friend that there wasn’t anything there with her either. “The boss asked me to fix a document but I can’t find it.  I don’t know if that Mark kid deleted it or something, but I can’t seem to-”

“Look for it in the backup.”

“I don’t do backups.”

Johnny hovers over her shoulder and he sees the title of the project in the pages she is holding with her left hand before he typed it in the search bar and he found out that it didn’t have the correct name. “Put a very specific name to your documents, they are easier to find and always have a backup.  You don’t know if this computer dies down on you and you end up fired.”

She groans, scratching her head before turning to her left to look at Johnny’s face, quite too close but still not uncomfortable. “Thank you, oh my God.” Johnny can hear the strain in her voice and he can only hope that she won’t end up crying anytime soon, since it would hurt her pride quite a bit. “And thanks for the coffee.”

“Just relax.” Johnny’s big hands end up over her shoulders and he massages them softly, pulling and pushing the skin there with a gentle mannerism that had her sighing and leaning back on his seat, a chuckle leaving his lips soon after. “I didn’t know you had a thing for massages.”

“You’re just great at them, don’t get excited.” She replies as her fingers start to move over the keyboard to change the things that the boss had talked about earlier in the morning when she had gone to his office and Johnny caresses the back of her neck softly. “Mhm, I need to go back to work.”

“So do I.”

“Then why don’t you go?”

“I’m leaving before you kick me out.” Johnny responds and once he turns to his right, he collides against Dongyoung who gave him a harsh expression that has him chuckling lightly. “Is everyone having a bad day at this office?”

There were people who are meant to be the highlight of your days. The cherry on top of the creamy and sweet cake that added that tiny explosion of flavor, those were the type of people that someone like her needed in her life. An explosion, almost like the way the foam slips from a champagne bottle when it’s popped open and Johnny was made of fireworks inside of his lightweight personality. Exactly what she needed.

There are connections that only go in between two people, though they are only friends and others think that there is more than there really is. Her eyes peak at the shimmering lights of the clock in Johnny’s car and the air around them is lively as they talk to one another, her eyes scan the way he looks outside of the office, no suit on but a fitted sweater and jeans that made him look like a less professional version of the man he really is. She had said that Johnny brings certain type of joy to her life that is much more different from the other feelings that she has felt in her life. Somehow, he is one of the few people that really understands her.

It feels as if every day she has lived them with him, she feels like she has exchanged every secret with Johnny Seo even though she hasn’t and truthfully, she doesn’t know why they are such good friends. It was a matter of something growing out of control and while she knows that Johnny doesn’t see her in any other light, she expected to find a way to get a taste of Johnny, just like how Taeyong did when he hid his little rendezvous with his assistant. Maybe, it is the fact that Johnny told her things were going to be better if she found something that distracted her…but she is deeply immersed in whatever the hell Johnny is making her feel.

His hands are wrapped around the steering wheel as he hums to the electronic tune on the radio, one of the songs that is probably hanging on the top ten of the Billboard chart. Suddenly, she feels the sudden need to talk to him and break the silence. “Where are we going?”

“There’s this restaurant downtown with the best menu in the world.  I want to take you there.” She feels envy of how easy life is to Johnny, and truthfully, she wishes that people would realize just how hard it is for her to feel normal. Her entire personality had revolved around how people had betrayed her and how she had hidden herself in her work simply because she was scared of people being better than her in something, using her for their own success. Johnny was the type of person that had grown through a lot but he was thankful of who he was at the moment and he was willing to enjoy his life to the best of his capabilities. Sometimes she ponders fi she should enjoy a free day if she is not the best at her work, her stress levels rising with every moment of her life. Johnny is talking about the restaurant he wants to go to and she is suddenly cold, leaning back on her seat as she ponders if her trust for Johnny was worth it. Would he leave, too? “…And I tasted one of those chocolate cakes that drip down when you slice them in that restaurant and it was the best shit ever, I totally recommend it-”

“Johnny.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you my friend?” She asks and perhaps, she is confusing liking him with the friendship that they have. The question is childish and she hates the sound of her voice when those words slip from her throat. That’s the type of insecurities a teenager would show, but it would probably make her feel more at ease. Johnny smiles and he looks ahead of the road after stealing a glance at her.

“You’re nice under all that…roughness.” Johnny replies and then, he licks his lips. “Do you need a few examples?  I can go on.”

She chuckles at his words. “Don’t be sarcastic, asshole.”

“I realized that I wanted to be your friend when you helped me and Dongyoung, out of all people who you could have helped…you don’t like doing work for others, but you were one of the few people that I actually could trust with a helping hand.” Johnny replies and then, he reaches for her hand and he tightens his grip on hers, almost reassuringly before she looked up at him. There was a person before Johnny and another one before that, there were hundreds of people who have only liked her because of how helpful she was but Johnny was the only person that felt genuine thankfulness for the things she had done for him. “And you’re funny and really hardworking, also you’re awfully honest and that’s the type of friend I have always wanted.”

“Okay, okay, it’s enough-”Johnny lets go of her hand and she smiles briefly before answering. “Thanks for answering to my call and taking me out.” The sound on the radio changes to a softer song, almost R&B with a mix of pop and she is surprised when Johnny’s face changes into a smirk, one that had her stomach dropping.

“I expect something in return.” Johnny adds and she pretends to try to open the door.

“I wanna leave, then.”

“You won’t leave, I’ll kick you out-”

And Johnny was the one that had invited her to change.

The sound of another one of her objects hitting the surface of the box she was taking home reminded her of why she had decided to drop out of that job. She was tired of being taken for granted and luckily, she was able to talk to the boss and he had accepted to let go of her even when her contract spoke of staying there for a bit more. Her eyes trail around the room as she hears the usual sound of typing and people on the phones answering calls, but she is not surprised when she feels someone standing behind her as he took out one of the objects inside her box and put it up on her desk once again.

“Why are you leaving?” The black haired male asks with a low voice and she turns around to see that Johnny had a serious expression over his face, something that wasn’t usual for him. He smelled like the papaya juice he had in the morning and a bit like waffles, the smell contrary to his usual manly cologne. She uncrossed her arms to put the object back into her box and she replied swiftly.

“I’m not happy with this job.” She answers and Johnny nods his head, helping her put her stuff back into the box before she heard the sound of his voice speaking once again.

“I will miss you.” Missing someone usually felt like you were never going to see them again and truthfully, she wants to see Johnny for more days to come into an endless pair of numbers that will mean that their friendship would last forever, but the words were heavy enough for her to realize that there were also a lot of things that could happen. She could find a job somewhere else, she could end up moving to another place in order to pursue her career and she already had a few job opportunities to follow. Johnny looks up at her and she points at the door of his office.

“I forgot my coat the other day at your office. Can you go look for it with me?” She asks and Johnny nods his head. As he is walking beside her, she speaks up. “And don’t say you will miss me; we will see each other whenever you can.”

“I’m a busy man.” As always, Johnny is trying to joke around with her and her hand collides against his shoulder, making him chuckle loudly. His hands glide over his doorknob and then, he twists it to open it as she speaks.

“Busy my ass-”

“Is your ass really busy?”

“Very much so.” She replies to him and then, she picks up the coat that she had left over his desk, placing it over her shoulder before going towards him. Johnny was standing by the doorway and she sighed deeply when he opened his eyes to hug her tightly. Her mind had thoughts of its own and without thinking, she wrapped her arms around his waist and she leant forward to give him her last goodbye to him. Her lips barely graze his at first before she wrapped her lips around his bottom one, touching the tip of her tongue against the surface before he opened his lips slowly to deepen the kiss. Johnny takes her by the waist, engulfing the sound that stays at the back of her throat as she traces soothing circles over his covered waist. Once he pulls away, she whispers against his lips with starry eyes the biggest lie that she had ever told him: “We’ll see each other again, don’t worry.”

And it was never in her plans to tell him that she was going to move to another country soon, but Johnny got to know without the news coming from her mouth. Johnny felt as if someone had ripped his soul apart from his soulmate, though the concept didn’t exist in his mind…but there was some strange connection with that woman that he never had with anyone else. It felt odd, irregular, prohibited, but unforgettable over anything else.

She had always been free and she will always be, like a tiger that will never be tamed.