— printer room

@✦ n. jaemin Jaemin certainly was an enigma to Mingyu. As such a man of routine, someone who through it off so easily was certainly someone to be hesitant about. He was a charming guy, sure...maybe even someone he'd talk to outside of a business setting out of curiosity, but he still couldn't quite figure him out. "And why would you want to be friends, then?" He questioned the other's motives without a second thought, having a hard time understanding why someone would even want to approach him in the first place. If anything, he was some office joke, the mechanical guy who didn't know how to even handle himself if he wasn't talking numbers. and speaking of, why was Jaemin giving out his? "Oh...that's not necessary, truly..."

@✦ k. mingyu Jaemin can't hold back a loud giggle when the older sighs- the annoying part of this plan was fun and he didn't plan on stopping /anytime/ soon. Too bad for Mingyu, he thinks, as he spins one of Mingyu's pens in his hand, around his fingers again and again. Getting Mingyu to call him cute would be one thing but Jaemin wanted Mingyu to be his friend. Mingyu wasn't social, reminding himself of younger him, but right now, he just wanted to befriend the older. "I mean, maybe call me cute and then plan a hangout together one day? Not as a date. Just as friends. What do you say then, Mingyu-ssi?" Jaemin's eyes twinkle with an odd sort of mischief as he looks at the older. Pen still spinning in one hand, he sits slightly straighter to get his notepad out, writing down his number and name on the paper. "Here's my number, hyung. Maybe put it to use." He says, dropping the polite front he had earlier, becoming ever so more informal, as if he wasn't informal to begin with.

@✦ n. jaemin Getting the runaround from his coworker made him let out a dejected sigh. There was no reasoning with such tomfoolery, was there? Not when he had a deadline in an hour and no pens to sign his name on his paperwork. "If I placate you and call you cute, does it make it easier to get my pens back?" He wondered aloud, not even sure what kind of games the other was playing. Jaemin certainly was an odd character, wasn't he... "My ual preference has nothing to do with office politics, does it? I'd never date a coworker, regardless of gender." Many of their coworkers were quite unabashed with their relationships these days...and to Mingyu, such things were quite worrisome. How could he make it up the corporate ladder if he worried about which people in the office liked him, romantically or otherwise? Being called a buzzkill, stickler...it didn't matter to him. He was just doing what he had to in order to survive in this status-centered world.

@✦ k. mingyu Jaemin laughs at that declaration and he just holds the canister of all ten of Mingyu's pens in his hand, glancing up at the taller. "Yeah, sure, but why else would you even decide to talk to me. and, even if i /was/ interested, Mingyu-ssi, I wouldn't care. After all, we are just coworkers, yet why're you trying to say that I wouldn't be interested. Mingyu, it's about the personality and how much I truly like them. But, based off of this conversation, i'll assume you don't swing my way?" Jaemin questions before he laughs and hands the older his pens. "Take care Mingyu-ssi. Better get your work handed in on time. After all I did just see you being bad at printing. How'd you mess up that?"

@✦ n. jaemin Mingyu scoffed at the other's bold declarations. "I didn't say you were cute." He just wanted his pens...what did any of this have to do with crushes or moreso dating? Perhaps he was a bit strict and traditional, sure...but did that mean he had to be the subject of all the foolish office torture? "What, you're stealing my stuff so I can go on a date with you? Perhaps I should be the one that's flattered." For the first time in the interaction--or perhaps in the office, ever-- he gives a teasing grin, taking the pen back from the other. "But I /am/ on a deadline, and if you got to know me, I doubt I'd be your type."

@✦ k. mingyu Jaemin downright chuckles at the taller's expression, enjoying flirting with the older a little too much because of the reactions he got. Seeing Mingyu's eyes dart to his own pens, he held his pink and black pens in his arms, all 20 of them safe from the older, in the case that Mingyu decided to steal his pens. "Mingyu-ssi, I'm just going to ignore the fact that if I wasn't cute, you wouldn't interact with me. You don't take to me, Mingyu-ssi. Maybe you should come out with me, huh?" Jaemin smirks at the end of his statement.

@✦ n. jaemin Mingyu grimaces at the other’s words, not really expecting to be faced with a full-fledged conversation. “Pens...my pens.” He pulls out one from his pocket, as if to prove to the intern that they were completely identical. But it was the rest of his words that left his mouth slightly agape. “Thinking that you’re cute or not has nothing to do with my pens, you know.” Speaking of pens, he couldn’t help but notice that the smaller boy already had a huge stash of his own blatantly on his desk. Perhaps it wasn’t about the pens after all...but rather, some way to mess with him...but for what reason?

@✦ k. mingyu Jaemin blinks owlishly up at the older, acting confused, as he played with Mingyu's pen, sliding it behind his ear. Acting innocent, he enters his password, and opens up a word document, glancing between Mingyu and the laptop, waiting for Mingyu to say something of substance yet when the elder just said that Jaemin had something of his, he sighs, albeit a little too loudly for in an office. Ignoring the stares of the other workers, he grins up at Mingyu. "Oh, really, what would those... things be then, Mingyu-ssi. Or is this just an excuse for you to talk to me, because you think I'm cute." He sasses, one hand coming up to fix his brown bangs.

@✦ n. jaemin Mingyu's eyes spark as he catches the pen thief in the act, a victorious grin spread across his face. Jaemin...that was his name, right? Mingyu had never really cared much to learn the names of his coworkers, thinking that such work chatter was simply extraneous, yet the smaller's name still popped into his mind. Now that he'd caught Jaemin in the act, he had to think of how to proceed. Sure, he dreaded office small talk, but wouldn't it be weirder to just swipe the pens from the mischievous boy? With a small groan of reluctance he accepts the former option, walking over to the intern's desk and clearing his throat. "I believe you have something of mine...multiple somethings, actually." He tried his best to sound intimidating, but part of him worried the other could hear his shyness popping through with his awkward mumbling.

@⍟ s. naeun "ah, so those are your eyelashes? i thought you stole some from a camel," he retorts, with a click of his tongue right after. he swears in his head that if she picks another fight with him today (which, of course, she always did) doyoung will have to just push her away from the room just so the latter could find an actual working printer rather than this century (not really) year old of a printer.

the way the machine started to emit little whirring sounds, doyoung's eyes merely widened yet they were soon squinted once more once a certain small woman spoke up. heaving out an exasperated sigh, clearly not wanting to put up a fight over some faulty machine, doyoung stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets and stared down at her.

"fine, i'll let you fix it. but if it gets worse, i'll blame it all on you," doyoung grumbled, moving to the side and put his glasses back on, squinting and blinking rapidly as his eyes adjusted to them.

@✦ k. mingyu Eagle eyes watching Mingyu as he strolls to the printer room, before he walks over to Mingyu's desk, snatching the pen off, before putting it in one of his containers, opening his laptop again, leaving it on the login screen, before he waits for Mingyu to walk back in. Pen number 10 down, social interaction still to go. Jaemin couldn't help but giggle when Mingyu can't find the pen- albeit a little too loudly, based on how he gets glared at, but he couldn't care less- not when Mingyu was going back to the printer room- just another chance to steal yet another pen. He went to get the next pen and sitting back down, not realizing that Mingyu might be watching

@✦ n. jaemin Mingyu's quick at work printing out some new accounting forms, trying to stay efficient despite the painfully slow printer holding him back. Finally the forms come out, but the result causes Mingyu to groan in dismay. Of course, his hours of hard were lead to some smudged blob. With a dejected sigh he throws the papers in the bin before returning to his desk to reprint, but something seems...off. Namely, why is that intern is that intern quietly laughing in the corner at him? He reaches for his pen before pausing slightly. Mingyu was never one to misplace things, always being obnoxiously precise, so how had /another/ one of his pens already gone missing this morning? Sending a cold glare to the room of interns he heads out to the printer once again, this time sticking his head out and watching his desk closely. Something was fishy...and this time, he was going to catch that intern boy in the act.

@☆ k. doyoung "mascara? i'm not wearing any. are my eyelashes that distracting?" it was half the truth. she had false lashes; it made it easier to pull her looks together without the worry of smudging the makeup off. just one of naeun's many concerns, such as the man she's currently dealing with. however, to say their interactions didn't bring her the slightest bit of amusement would be a lie.

she was left leaning against the side of the printer, gaze downcast upon the crouched figure of the latter knowing fully well it probably wouldn't start running anytime soon. "maybe if you spent more time fixing the printer than trying to chase me away, it'll work. or! better idea, if you'd let me take a look at it, we /both/ can get our work done."

her face contorts into a look of disapproval at the whirring sound the printer emits after the buttons were touched and smashed into, eventually emitting a small 'tsk' beneath her breath as she shifts from one foot to the other. "you know you're never going to get it to work if you keep doing that." her voice rose, not really due to anger, but over the loud skids and wheezes the machine began to make from the various printing jobs it could not complete. "just let me fix it, jeez. we're going to be here all day!"

@✦ s. naeun an eye twitched upon hearing the way her voice reached into his ears, shaking his head inwardly as if to shake it out of his head like it would stay lodged in and doyoung had to hear her voice forever. taking a deep breath, he glanced at the ceiling above them, trying to keep his calm demeanour present before bringing his head down to face the shorter woman.

"you must be blind behind all of that mascara, huh?" doyoung spoke and knelt down once again in front of the printer to check whatever was wrong with the mention. "no matter who gets to print first or last, it'll still be stuck," the male shook his head as he pulled back to remove the circular framed glasses and then letting it rest on his pile of papers.

"but of course, i was here first so i get the honour of printing my own work done first, so why don't you just go do whatever work you have left, 'princess'." doyoung continued, long digits still working on whatever was on the printer to make it work properly once again. though he had to admit, the way the printer's still working even in for who knows how long this has been in the company, it still managed to stay. had it been his own, he would've replaced the bothersome thing anyway. 'trying to save some budget, huh Mr. Oh?' was the first thing that popped into the taller male's mind, quietly letting out a quiet curse as he continued his little mission.

@✦ k. doyoung despite the attempt to stay level headed and calm on such a busy day (she had other things to get to) his words still struck a chord in her, and naeun could only pray to whatever entity that existed above that she wouldn't find her heel stuck in the wall in the following seconds because the urge to throw it at him was overwhelming, to say the least.

"are you kidding me? you're going to take hours." her strides have shifted her from standing behind him, peering over his shoulders, to wound up besides him instead. "i /only/ have three pages. that's five minutes max -- we need to be efficient here." her voice itself had already wavered into a few octaves higher, the stoic look upon her face contorting into one of distaste.

she didn't understand his logic; better to have her get her work done and leave him alone than to have her linger about watching him struggle with the most trivial jobs. contrary to what people have complained about the printer, it has somehow been good to her thus far. hence, no complaints on her end. and why she was ready to nudge him out of the way if it meant she had to do his work for him. "let's be rational here, hm? i'll be done in a matter of seconds and you can have the printer to print . . . whatever this heap of paper is. it's probably jammed because of that."

@✦ s. naeun hushed angry whispers floated in the air of the printing room, along with the telltale sounds of a hand lightly smacking against the machine. it seems that everyone was right apparently, printers can smell work and fear, but mostly work. once you need to print something out, it'll either purposely break down, eat your papers, run out of ink, or all of the above mentioned.

today, doyoung was one of the cursed machine's victims. and to make it worse, he had a couple of piles to be printed out but of course, the printer just had to be stuck for today, of all days huh? though, surely this day won't get any worse, right? wrong. his mind seemed to jinx the idea, didn't it, because as soon as he HOPED that things will not turn into another bad route, the familiar set of heels click clacking against the floor was enough to make the young man release an inward groan.

son naeun, a woman who seems to find an interest of thinking that the office's hallways were a runway for her for god-knows-who would even pay attention. doyoung doesn't know when it happened but all he could he could recall, all of their interactions ended on bad terms. no matter how much he wanted to try and be nice to the woman, she always seemed to act up and of course, his mind would instantly say 'never mind, time to fight, this snobby princess'.

straightening his back up to properly face the woman, his eyes glanced over at the papers in her hands and merely reached a hand up to fix his glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. "uh, yeah. i do mind, now if you'll excuse me, i have A LOT to print out." he retorted, emphasising on the two words with his chin motioning over the pile he mentioned.

@✦ k. doyoung patience. naeun would consider herself a somewhat patient person. sure, she speaks her unfiltered thoughts and can be considered to be brash at times, but it wasn't anger talking. it was just her by nature. it would take quite a lot to really get the lady riled up to the point where she forgets the quiet working space she's in.

but patience seems to be nonexistence when it came to one person. how it started? she couldn't quite recall. all naeun knew was that whenever he was in her periphery, bitterness seeps onto her tastebuds. doyoung - was his name, from what she remembered. a man who, out of many, always managed to get under her skin. more times than mr. oh has, surprisingly. and out of all bustling days, she just had to stumble into him in the printer room.

with three pages held in her hand, her eyes immediately skimmed over the pile that laid upon the side awaiting their turned to be scanned and copied. she couldn't possibly have to wait all day just to get three papers photocopied; a waste of time. and to be in his presence for longer than a minute? bless her soul. refraining the need to roll her eyes, she's taking a deep breath before catching his attention with a clear of . "d'you think i could go first? i'm kind of busy, and i only have three pages to copy and print, whereas you. . ." she held her folder up, slim in comparison to the latter's. "yeah. . . do you mind?"