I Still Love You Tho - Tumblr Posts

this was such a funny chapter like how the mc didnt fail to give me secondhand embarrassment every single time 😭😭😭😭 she just wouldnt give up on soobs 🚶🏻‍♀️

(2) ✶ how to quit a job

SYNOPSIS a romcom office series; in which you're a huge romantic at heart but the shitty men you attract leaves you with countless failed relationships. then, you meet choi soobin. in an elevator. he isn't interested in you, he finds you annoying, and he clearly has zero respect for you, so why the hell are you so bent on making him like you?

WORD COUNT 4.8k

AUTHOR NOTE the way im literally killing my engagement by delaying my posting time so early on in this fic..tsk tsk. whatever, at this point, im writing this for fun

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Your history with men: long, futile, possibly traumatic -- which, you guess, is more reference of the ends of your relationships, but besides the point. The most important of all, of course, is how all of the men you've dated liked you more than you did them.

You don't mean to brag, really, but despite those relationships ending, it always starts off incredibly well. By making the first moves -- subtly to not risk a man's toxic masculinity hurting his ego, you get a guy right there, right under your fingertips.

It's worked for years, after trial and error, trial and error, your N.U.T strategy, originally developed in your sophomore of high school, has proved to be successful in all regards of getting a man.

Yes, the names silly, albeit best to remember you were a teen, but changing the acronym would mean changing the magic...the steps work! It's simple really, because it goes like the following:

N = NAME rule: repeat his name as much as possible (higher success rate with aegyo)

A week after the blonde had joined the team, Chaewon already decided to use him as an excuse. Inviting everyone to dinner on tuesday, because apparently it was to celebrate blonde's one week anniversary at the job. Apparently.

Beomgyu was the one who first started the dinner after work thing and everyday, you remember to sleep hating the man for leaving this legacy behind because even when the asshole left, it continued on, to your dismay. Chaewon was apparently his successor, because she had taken the role of pestering everybody about work dinners the moment he left.

Hanging out with your colleagues after work was such a bizarre thought. Not only was it a direct violation of your strict Separate Work Life from Personal Life policy, it was unnecessary. When she first invited you, you wondered if there were genuinely psychos who would go out of their way to hang out with people that remind them of work.

You didn't have to wonder for too long. Coincidentally (not) enough, the psychos were all around you. The entire office would frequently go out after work with the exception of you and Mr. Geuk, your manager. Who was never really invited in the first place.

"Hey! Fake blonde!" you shouted out to your colleague, who you found was in the elevator. Which really seemed to be the only place you could talk to him.

This time, different to before, he had acknowledged you and reached out to press a button. You expected it to close so you hurried your pace towards the elevator, but it didn't, it stayed open.

A bloom of proudness spread across your chest, was you mentally preparing to got through with N.U.T so incredibly powerful he already got effectet? It truly seemed like it.

When you walked in, you looked over to him for a bit. Until you broke into a little smile. "Hey, thanks for—"

Your sentence was interrupted the minute your eyes fell onto Chaewon's figure, the back of her little bob right in your face.

She turned to you to give a little thanks — which you assume is about the elevator being left open. You just nodded, shamelessly taking the credit.

But when she turned around to face the closing elevator, you lightly scoff. If he didn't see Chaewon behind you, he would've let the elevator close like normal, meaning N.U.T wasn't powerful enough to transcend human capabilities, it was a shame.

It was also incredibly awkward. Your proudness deflated and the elevator still going as slow as ever.

"Y/N, do you really not want to go out with us today?" Chaewon suddenly spoke up.

You don't know why you took the time to pretend like you were thinking about it since her back was facing you, but you did anyway. "Sorry Won, just can't."

She turned herself to you again. "But why" she drawled, pouting.

"You know...you know how busy I get..." you lied, making sure to avoid eye contact.

But it didn't help you out too much. Chaewon figured you'd lie, as she just exhaled, knowing you wouldn't budge on your policy. Maybe the lie would've held up if you haven't been audibly complaining in the office about how you have nothing to do, practically every other week.

"It's a small get together, right?"

You looked at the person next to you, then you and Chaewon looked at each other, than back at the blonde, both of you clearly being startled that he spoke.

"Um, yeah. Yeah! It's just the people at work at some old diner and stuff."

"Well, I'll be there then." he said, to which Chaewon froze, then frantically nodded, smiling ear to ear, no sign of her previous sulky face, telling him the details of...whatever, you weren't listening really.

You only stood there, with your hand tightened on your bag as you let your thoughts go far too deep. You know Kim would've asked him out to the dinner, she invites anyone and everyone — with the exception of Mr. Geuk. You figured from that information alone that the blonde initially rejected the invite.

So the sudden change of heart baffled you, it left you confused. It wasn't like she added any new inciting information; she just asked whether or not you were coming.

Which you emphasized you weren't...and like a bulb lit up above your head, you've solved the mystery in a matter of seconds.

The elevator had reached the lobby floor, the elevator door open, exiting a hurried blonde.

You've figured who the blonde was by the one week of observation — he wasn't an easy man. But by this interaction alone, you'd concluded who he was -- a savage, an evil, annoying preppy little blonde.

So, you did what you promised to never do — turn into a psycho.

You ran to catch up a little to Chaewon, who was only a few steps ahead of you.

Before she could say anything, you interrupted with an inhale, then an exhale, giving up your life long policy. "I'm coming too." you said, dropping the bombshell.

"To...?"

"To the after work dinner, of course."

It was silent, for a bit as you both stared at each other.

"Oh, cool!"

You were most definitely hoping for a more enthusiastic response, but that was forgotten quickly.

Which is how you found yourself grumbling, as you had your arms folded holding a storming grudge, sitting right across of the blonde, dimpled, gigantic, ass. You made sure to push Sunghoon out the way to get the chair right in front of the little asshole, to which the silver haired rolled his eyes at.

There was a need bubbling inside your gut, a need to destroy the blonde…and also find out his issue with you. Other than you planning his doom, which, he doesn’t know about. He shouldn’t know about.

You had Chaeryeong, who was practically five seats away from you, squeezed in the tables corner, very confused, practically asking you hurd of questions with her eyebrows. You tried to make her understand but alas, you're no expert in transmitting information without using the art of the tongue, and it was getting awkward with everyone looking between the two of you, so you just shook your head at Chaeryeong in a way of saying 'not now'.

Which was simple enough for her to nod, and hesitantly tune back into the conversation with the rest — being Chaewon the bob cut, Sunghoon the idiot, Jaehyun the hot douche, Sakura the cool one, and Yunjin the intern. You figured the conversation wasn’t so hot to jump yourself into.

In the duration of the team dinner, you found it extremely hard to start up a conversation with the man across from you. He was right there, why did it feel like there was a literal gigantic wall between the two of you? You snapped yourself out of it by shaking your head, you were getting distracted and discouraged.

You had to follow up with N.U.T, no matter what.

"Hey!" you said chirply. You made sure in front of him, you slightly slammed your hand on the table, which, thank goodness, finally caught his attention. He smiled a little tightly, but it was a smile regardless.

Which you completely forgot to plan ahead of time, you were expecting him to ignore you again -- you even mentally prepared to make a scene and throw a drink at his face.

"Hi!" you said again, as a form of a greeting this time.

"Hey, Y/N." he replied.

And, as a direct result of your lack of planning, this was your first strike of crisis. Your head was blank, trying to search for names to match up with his face but the only thing popping up was, sickly, fake blonde.

Your faux confidence was deflating all the more, nervousness cracking a little more through the facade. "Hi, uh,"

His brow perked up, the polite smile he put up, dropped. Completely.

And so, your brain went into full red emergency blaring mode. "Hi So..hyun?"

His expression was far from impressed.

You had it in there somewhere, it was in there. "Soo...hyung?" you said again with the ends of your lips trembling.

"Um, my name is—"

"No!", you yelled out of impulse, which proved to be a mistake since it caught the attention of the entire table.

"What happened?", Chaewon asked, worried.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just—"

"She shit her pants." Jaehyun interrupted, which then shifted the entire table's focus on to him. He shrugged. "I don't know, she looks constipated."

"What? Nope, no, I'm not going to engage with this when we're in an out of work setting." you raise your hands in surrender then drop them, "Seriously, guys. It's nothing, continue talking about Die Hard...or something."

"Nobody... was talking about Die Hard." Chaeryeong said, which you figured was out of instinct. You glared at her, and thankfully she took the hint quickly as she made an 'O' shape. When she weirdly carried their not Die Hard conversation again, you and the blonde were made sure to be excluded.

You turn your full focus on the guy, seeing that a subtle pout was formed on his lips as he looked at the group, looking like he wanted to desperately join in. You sighed at the site; he was pitiful.

You composed yourself preparing to take one last shot. "It's Soomin right?"

"Soobin. It's Soobin." he said, cattier than earlier.

"Ah..." you nodded, your brows knitted together. "Are you sure? I clearly remember manager calling you Soomin!" you were digging yourself a bigger hole the more you talked, but no matter how many times you tried, you couldn't stop yourself from talking.

"You silly goose, you're trying to prank me! Just a warning though, I'm not the biggest prank fan." you said awkwardly following that up with a chuckle.

And to that he had his brows deeply furrowed, to which you respond with a dropped smile.

"Me and you, S-soomin," you said the name hesitantly, gulping felt like you were swallowing down shame. It was painful, incredibly painful. "Soomin, I just know we're going to be very good friends. Me and you," you point to him then back to your face. "A couple of best friends."

He didn't respond to that, rather just nodded, then refocused his attention on a totally irrelevant, not Die Hard conversation that was happening beside you both.

You had to take your shot or giving up your policy was going to turn out to be a complete waste. So, you cleared your throat, "Or perhaps lovers." you said under your breath.

He heard. Oh, did he hear. He snapped his head to you, again, with the same raised brow.

You gave him a quick smile, your eyes wandering down to the surface of the table as your lips kissed your teeth in embarrassment.

This was harder than you imagined.

But thus, you learned a new, valuable lesson. N.U.T wasn't fool proof, sometimes, a step might fall through, and when that happens, you need to remind yourself that human beings are diverse creatures—men are diverse creatures.

One step might not work, or can't work, but it didn't guarantee your complete failure. In fact, you had two more steps—frankly, better steps.

U = UNEXPECTED TOUCH rules: little touches, as unexpected as possible

Its been a few weeks after the Soomin incident, and you've learned to build up your relationship with the blonde in hopes of making the second step not be abrupt. So far, you've been ...failing. You don't even see him in the decade old elevator anymore! It was getting bad.

"So, what? Your nutting plan isn't working anymore?"

You snapped your focus from Soobin to the girl behind the desk you were leaning on, Chaeryeong.

"First of all, keep your voice down!" you hissed. "And second of all, it's called nut because I used to really like nuts in high school. It has nothing to do with nutting."

"For some reason, I'm having a hard time believing that." she said, then you rolled your eyes, shifting your attention back to the distressed blonde on a call.

"It's kind of funny though, if you think about it." you mumbled, reaching for the oatmeal cookie jar.

"Nutting? Not really."

"Oh my god Chae," you groan looking back at her again, "I'm talking about Soobin!"

Her lips make an O shape in realization, as she rests her forearm on the desk. "What's funny about him?" she whispered.

"How he's completely avoiding me." you mumbled as you noticed him getting up from his chair, heading to what you think would be the printing room.

"Okay, I have to go. Give me a high five for good luck." you quickly said raising your hand, Chaeryeong raising hers to slap yours, completely out of loop.

Then off you went, with a cookie you don't want in your hands, speed walking to catch Soobin in the printing room.

And thankfully, you weren't wrong. You noticed his back hunched over the printer.

"Want some help?" you asked, to which he turned around. You expected to see a horrified expression with the way hes been avoiding you, but he just had a small smile as he nodded.

Chaeryeong's high five...you have to thank her later.

"It's not printing for some reason. I have no idea why." he mumbled, stepping back to make way for you to take a look.

"Well..." putting your hands on your hips, you looked at the printer. The one thats been here since the building was founded. The thing is, no one knew how to make it work, it was spontaneous. It worked, then it didn't.

But you weren't going to tell Soobin that.

You put your free hand on his shoulder, looking directly into his eyes. "Soobin—hey look, I know your name now!" your changed tone was that of excitement but Soobin was left confused. So you cleared your throat, your voice deeper. "Soobin, I am so glad that you reached out to me. With courage like yours, I'd think you were an ex veteran. And I feel like, through this interaction, we can be the great friends that I promised you we would be. And maybe, something more—"

He pushed your hand away from his shoulder. "I was just asking for help with the printer?"

"I was just asking for help with the printer" you mimicked him in a mocking tone, you'd like to look back and believe this was your way of bantering. But he definitely didn't think so, with his face scrunched up at the impersonation. You shrugged. "Soobin, this is a bonding moment between two colleagues. Maybe friends, maybe two flirting buddies—"

"How are we anything more than colleagues?"

"Hey, what's going on here?" you looked at the door to see Sunghoon poking his head in, then you rolled your eyes. "I just needed help with the printer." Soobin said pointing with his thumb to the back. "Oh, that thing?", you glared at the boy in hopes of sending him a signal to shut up, but alas, it was no use. He just gave you a weird look back before continuing. "If it doesn't work, it's not going to work. You're better off with the printer in the manager's office."

"Ah, I didn't know that. Thanks."

You cursed under your breath as you saw Sunghoon walk away through the glass wall. "I was about to tell you that. But you interrupted me." you said holding up a forced smile. "You know I have, like, a hundred clients on hold? You completely wasted my time on purpose!"

"Okay, let's calm down. Hear me out." he raised his brow, waiting for you to continue. "Having a good relationship with your colleague is proven to be important—"

He rolled his eyes, as he dropped his hands to his sides, preparing to walk away.

"Soobin, look—"

"I would like it if you called me Mr. Choi from now on." he said coldly, turning away to leave the printing room.

And that was that. This man officially hated you.

"Don't you think it was too easy for him to hate me? I only stalled for what, three seconds? And suddenly I'm wasting his precious time?" you sulked, staring down at your cup of coffee.

"What's stopping you from hitting him with nut's final blow?" Chaeryeong asked, then tilted her head. "Nevermind, probably a restraining order."

Like a light bulb switched on once again, you turned to face Chaeryeong. "No, but you're right. The last step is the most impactful." Chaeryeong shook her head to stop you from continuing, which was a failed attempt.

"Hear me out, okay. It could reverse his dislike for me, like I'm not even trying to make him fall in love with me anymore, I'm just trying to not make it awkward working next to him. Frankly, I'm really thinking for the team here, It'll be good for the work environment."

"Right." she drawled, narrowing her eyes at you as she took a sip of her coffee.

"If you don't believe me, watch." you said, getting up from your chair, keeping your head up high, as you walked out of the break room.

You found Soobin still sitting at his desk, using the computer. Everybody else was either in the break room, or outside eating lunch, but he was just there.

Looking at...hedgehogs?

When you squinted your eyes to see the search more clearly, you found it was 'hedgehog pet food'. It was odd, but you smirked to yourself as you slowly approached him.

You had material for your last step.

T = TAKE INTEREST rules: in his interests

"Hey." you breathed out. Soobin jumped a little, immediately closing the hedgehog tab. Then, he spinned his chair around to you, collecting himself.

"I'm so sorry for earlier today, you know, wasting your time and stuff."

His eyes widened a bit in shock, then he cleared his throat, holding up a smile. "Oh. Well, thanks for apologizing."

You nodded. "Yeah, you know, I just get so weird at work when I don't get enough sleep. My hedgehogs keep me up at night, it's a nightmare."

"Wait, you have hedgehogs?" his brow perked up.

Again, you nodded, that time with a smile of achievement. "Mhm, yeah. People say from time to time, 'oh it must be so easy', and I'm just like, go get yourself a hedgehog first." you were getting in character as you talked, arms folded. "No, exactly. People think it's so easy!"

"Oh my god, wait. You have a hedgehog too?" you asked, fauxing disbelief, slack-jawed.

"Yeah, I do. Only one though. I heard its hard with multiple." he said.

"It is." you mouthed which earns you Soobin's light chuckle, his eyes morphing into crescents.

"Hey," your brows perk up at him speaking up. "I'm sorry for you know, getting mad at you. You were just trying to be friendly—"

"So, here's what I'm getting. Everyone with the exception of me, is betting on Soobin not falling in love with Y/N by the end of the month?" you heard Yunjin say, very loud and very clear.

Your eyes widened as you looked at Soobin, who was very confused, back to Yunjin, who was walking backwards, facing Chaewon, Jaehyun, Sunghoon, and Sakura. They were just coming in from outside, holding the lunch they promised to get.

When Yunjin turned around, she stopped at her tracks, looking at Soobin who had now stood up from his chair, then you, who was already standing.

You inhaled then exhaled, your arms crossed as you bit down on your bottom lip.

"Shit." you said under your breathe.

"So...so what I'm hearing is that you made up this stupid plan—"

"It's called nut." you muttered.

"You know that's not helping you out, right?" he scoffed, turning around to the side to quickly run through his hair.

Soobin had publicly embarrassed you by giving you a 'we need to talk', and making you follow him like a child to the printing room. Which, isn't known to be a friend to privacy.

He was practically scolding you right in the open, the glass walls showing the scene to employees outside.

"Look, I don't know how they found out. I only told this to Chaeryeong."

"The receptionist? Are you insane? Of course it'll get out if you tell the receptionist at work!" he hissed, then he exhaled, his shoulders dropping a bit.

"Was this, like, your way of hazing me? Be honest."

Would this get you out of trouble? You weren't going to admit that you did this to plan his doom.

Or make him think you did it because you liked him.

You finally nodded. "Yeah. Its like a tradition. We even did it to Yunjin when she first came."

"You bet on her falling in love with you? By the end of the month?"

"Yeah. People do this type of hazing a lot in sales." you lied. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of it."

"Well, that's weird. Because it's quite literally against the rules." when he saw your eyes widen, and your composure breaking, he continued, "Hazing is qualified as harassment to HR."

And then, boom. The final blow.

"Ah. I see!" you squeaked, your anxiousness reaching an all time high. "Well, good thing this was just friendly, you know, games." you said as you quickly headed to leave the room.

"I'm going to report you to HR." he said, as you reached out for the door knob. You spinned around, with hands on your hips, and a trembling smile. You took a deep breath in.

"You know what's so great about this country? Freedom! And rights! You have the right to report me to HR, and—and seriously, I commend you for it. So, you know, good luck." you said, then turned around to the door, a curse slipping out your mouth.

Then, you turned around to face Soobin again. "I would, though, like, appreciate it if you didn't. But, you know, your choice." you corrected your earlier statement, chuckling awkwardly.

Soobin only gave you a tight lipped smile, one that highlighted his dimples. Which just confirmed your doom.

You finally walked out, stomping to the break room. You needed to know how everyone found about this.

Everyone's gaze fell upon you when you walked in, the mood being tense.

"He's reporting me to HR." you finally said, breaking the silence.

"What? Wow, you bothered him that bad?" Sunghoon said.

"Oh my god, is she going to get fired?" Yunjin added. "Before me?"

You rolled your eyes, pulling out a chair to sit down, your energy was at a complete low. Your attention snapping to Jaehyun, who was chewing his fried chicken loudly.

"Can you close your mouth when you eat asshat?!" you snapped.

"Jesus—alright, alright." he said putting his wing down.

"Y/N, I don't want to say I told you so, but I really want to." Chaeryeong whined, flailing your arm around. You glared at her, but nod to give her permission. You definitely deserved it.

"I told you so." she whispered, which earned her Chaewon's shaking head in disapproval. "What? It felt good, if anyone's wondering." "I think I can go convince him not to report you." Sakura spoke up.

You shot your head up to Sakura. "Wait, seriously? Oh my god, you're a genius—a mentee has to practically obey their mentor. Thank you so much Kkura, you're seriously the best."

She lightly laughed. "I mean, I'll try. I don't know if it'll actually work."

You blowed her kiss, mouthing a thank you, pouting at how cool she is. "So, when exactly are you guys going to makeout?"

And, the moment was ruined.

You flipped off Jaehyun, to which he responded with sticking out his tongue immaturely. But then that reminded you of the reason you came here in the first place and your face soured.

"Wait, how did you guys know about the bet? I mean, it wasn't technically a bet—how did you guys know?"

Chaewon spoke up this time. "You told us. At the diner a few weeks ago. You don't remember?"

You shook your head, brows knitted as you slowly tried to recollect the memory.

"God, you must've been really wasted."

In conclusion, you caused your own downfall.

For the rest of the week, you tiptoed around your manager. Especially after Sakura informed you that Soobin wasn't budging. You don't know what you thought it would do, Mr. Geuk was known to be spineless, he wouldn't fight for you to stay if HR determined that you had to leave. But you weren't in the position to risk anything, so you really tried to suck it up.

Mr. Geuk was easy, but exhausting to please. Another week went by, and every minute felt like you would be called up to his office and told about your termination. So, you went back to the break room, to prepare a plate of tea and a sandwich—you truly were a slave at this point on.

When you walked to approach his office, the tray in your hands, you heard yelling. Then immediately, the door burst open with Soobin coming out. He gave you a quick glare, but then went on to ignore you. When you saw him go, you hesitantly walked in the office.

"Mr. Geuk? I prepared you some food, I know the job gets hard." you said smiling, putting the tray on the small coffee table.

"Ah, thank you. You didn't have to, but thank you." he said smiling to you.

You walked over to his desk slowly. "What happened with Soobin?"

He sighed. "I really thought I'd get another you, but I think now I've just come to appreciate your skills a lot more." you raised a brow, waiting for him to continue. "He's a horrible salesman!" he yelled throwing his hand up.

"Way worse than Chaewon. He's driving all our clients away!"

"Ah..." you said quietly. "Are you thinking of... firing him?" you asked with a glint of hope. It was low of you, but if he was gone, that meant you weren't going to get fired. Of course that would make you attempt to bite away a smile.

"What? No! I mean, I wish! But we don't have the resources to go through another hiring process." he said, groaning as he spinned around in his chair. "Fuck, did you see that little brat? Stomping out when I gave him just a little more hours as punishment!"

You sighed. If the manager wasn't going to fire him, that meant Soobin was going to stay. You had to do something.

"Boss, don't scold him too much." you reluctantly mumbled. "Huh?" he sneered. He stopped spinning, facing you now.

"I mean, he's practically a rookie. I wasn't the best when I first started working here, you know? He just needs a little guiding, I promise. Just... lay off the hours." you bit your bottom lip, "Pretty please?" you clasped your hands together, pouting.

He exhaled, shoo'ing you away. "Alright, alright, I'm trusting you. Go back to work."

You nodded, a smile forming at the ends of your lips as you exit the office.

You looked to find Soobin, but he wasn't at his desk. So, you tried the next best thing.

The printing room.

"What are you doing?"

Soobin was, once again, hunched over the printer. This time, poking the inside of it with a pen. When he turned his head to see you, he rolled his eyes, ignoring your question.

"That's a lot of attitude for someone who's bad at their job." you blurted.

"The manager told you." he concluded, sighing. You nodded, your arms folded, smugness overtaking your pose.

"I'm trying to fix the printer." he said, turning back to it.

"With a pen?" you asked in disbelief. "Hey, if you're doing this to impress Mr. Geuk, don't, it won't work."

"What? Seriously? So, what will? I can't get stuck with unpaid overtime this week." you didn't respond, choosing to stay silent, to which he responded to with a groan. "Look, I'll—I'll drop the HR complaint. Just tell me how to get the manager off my back, you're clearly on his good side."

You bright up, walking over to him now. "We should make a deal first."

He cocked his head to the side when you snatched the pen from his hand and took a sheet of paper from the printer. "A peace treaty, let's make a peace treaty." you corrected yourself, writing the title Soobin & Y/N peace treaty.

"Also, permission to call you Soobin?" you asked tilting your head, still holding the smug smile.

"Yeah, yeah whatever." he mumbled.

All there is to say, was that once again, you managed to dig yourself out of your own hole — successfully.

taglist: @wccycc @baekberrie @linnysposts @yeppeudau @beomomb @beom1e @txtbrainrot @captivq @todorokiskitten @i814hue @uarmyhore @soobsfairy444 @kooktattoos @openingssequence @goldennika

God fucking damm it @t-f-t @funky-sea-cryptid you basterds give me a yandere Ichika brain rot and the only thing I can draw right now is Ichika soaked in blood while laughing like a fucking mad woman