“Hi!” she said, giving him a nervous smile. “I’m not bothering you, am I?”
Blood rushed to his head as he quickly got to his feet. “Not at all,” Junyoung said. “Is everything … alright?”
“Not really,” she said, biting her lip. It was unbearable; he looked away. “I was hoping you could help me. I have somebig projects due today, but I can’t seem to open any documents. My computer freezes and then restarts. It’s happened six times already, and I’ve tried everything. I put in a ticket hours ago, but nobody has responded. I’m at my wit’s end. Please tell me you can help me.” She clasped her hands together.
“That sucks.” He glanced around. Already people had started leaving for lunch. “The truth is, we’re short-staffed today. There’s something going around. The flu, maybe.” He took a step toward her and was pleased when she didn’t take a step back. Lowering his gaze, he said, “I can help you, but only if you don’t mention it to anybody else. Our boss is strict about that kind of thing. Proper channels and all that …”
“If it’s going to get you in trouble, I don’t want to risk it,” Dahye said swiftly. “I can wait until a technician is assigned. No worries.” She started to walk away.
“No!” Junyoung said. His voice had jumped several octaves, and Dahye started. “I didn’t mean to yell. I just meant …” He spread his arms wide. He had read online that doing so while talking signaled confidence. “I’d be happy to help you, since we’re friends.”
Her face softened. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“Like I said, I’m happy to help.” He glanced at his watch. “We can go now, if you’d like?”
“That would be great.”
He followed her to the elevator, simultaneously giddy and nervous, his mind racing. Was her computer really broken? Or was this an excuse for her to talk to him?
Think of something clever to say, he thought.Make her laugh.But he couldn’t think of anything at all. They were silent as she pushed the button, silent as they stepped inside. Junyoung stood close, inspecting the dainty layer of fuzz on her earlobes. Her ears were pierced, and she wore diamond studs. They weresmall. Not flashy. He liked that. Aside from the dot of mascara on her right eyelid, her face was perfect, and she smelled like honey and fresh flowers. He leaned in, eyes squeezed shut, and breathed deeply, his nostrils flared wide.
“What are you doing?”
Junyoung’s eyes snapped open to find her staring at him with revulsion. “There was a bug,” he blurted out. “In your hair. I was trying to get it out without you noticing.”
Right away she pitched forward, hands flailing wildly. “Oh my God, get it out!”
Without hesitating, Junyoung plunged his fingers into the heat of her scalp. The doors opened and closed as he rooted around, taking his time to search for the imaginary pest. He was in heaven: desperate to keep his hand attached to her head and, at the same time, desperate to keep his growing erection at bay.
“Did you find it?” she asked, standing very still. “Please tell me you found it. I can’t stand bugs.”
“I did,” he said, a little reluctantly. He pretended to fling something onto the floor, though what he was really doing was pocketing the loose strands of hair that had come away in his hand.
She let out a faint sigh of relief, then looked at him, sheepish. “It wasn’t a spider, was it?”
“No. A fly. Harmless.”
“Thank god.”
As they walked out, Junyoung brought his fingers to his nose and took a deep whiff.Delicious.
+
Her cubicle was an assault on his eyes. Confused by the sudden explosion of pink, Junyoung stood there, blinking stupidly. Next to her keyboard was a pink mousepad and next to that was awobbling tower of pink sticky notes, the topmost sheet covered in scribbles. Her chair had a frilly, pink seat cover. Other than that, there were no personal objects that he could see: no pictures of boyfriends or siblings or friends. No indication of her interests.
“Let me guess. Your favorite color is blue.”
She laughed. “You can sit,” she said. He sat, unable to keep the thought from his mind:Her pussy touched this.Under the guise of making himself comfortable, he ground his hips against the seat, feeling lightheaded.
He knew what the problem was almost instantly, and had he wanted to, he could have fixed it within minutes. But he made a big show of helping her, taking his time, making it seem more difficult than it actually was. When he could dawdle no longer, he restarted the computer.
“Ta-da. Good as new.”
“You’re a lifesaver.”
“All part of the job.” He started to salute her and then, realizing how stupid that was, switched to a wave halfway through. It was awkward. He winced, but she didn’t seem to notice. As he was leaving, he casually tossed over his shoulder: “Have you eaten lunch yet?”
Dahye shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll probably skip. I have a lot to do before the day is over.”