Nice To Meet You

Weak

Sunny

I yawn as I stand in front of the coffee machine. But this time, I’ve learned my lesson so I cover my mouth even though I’m the only one in the break room—the smaller one located in the back of our office—right now. I have no desire to be caught with my mouth wide open by anyone ever again.

I really need to be more disciplined and stop reading my books just when I’m supposed to sleep. It’s turning me into a zombie the following day and the only time I gain any semblance of my usual self is right after I’ve had my third cup of coffee for the day.

Although I love coffee, I think we can all agree that three cups a day is not healthy.

I hear someone come into the break room and stand by the printer. I look up and see Jae scanning his staff pass to gain access to the machine. He must’ve sensed me looking at him because he glances my way and when he realizes who I am, he gives me a bright smile, dimples and all. Once again, I think about how he’s better suited being in the fashion or entertainment industry because of how good he looks. I can just stare at him all day.

“Oh, hi, Sunny!” I find that his voice is now becoming familiar to me.

Let me tell you something. Today is not the first time I’ve encountered Jae in this break room in the morning. By some twist of fate, every time I come here to make coffee, he would also be here. I’ve seen him either making coffee too, looking out the window, or like today, printing some document.

And every time, he always presents a friendly face, a warm greeting, and a dazzling smile. If I count the times I’ve bumped into him at this hour of the day, the count would probably be above ten by now.

But regardless of how often we chance upon each other, it always feel like the first time. Just like clockwork, the second he says hi to me, I feel the blood rush to my face, and I just know—I know!—that I’m blushing profusely.

Argh! I’m sure he already knows that I find him really attractive.

The smile never leaves his face as he walks to where I’m standing by the coffee machine. He’s close but not so close that he’s invading my personal space and making me uncomfortable. I like that. On the other hand, he’s close enough that I can smell his fragrance and dear god! Is there nothing that’s not sexy about this man? The way he smells makes me want to pack up my belongings and just live by the side of his neck. Who needs oxygen when I can just inhale and sniff and just smell him? I can bask in the enticing comfort that is the citrusy and floral and musky notes mixed with the distinct scent that belongs only to Jae Peters.

I can’t quite put my finger on it but there’s something about his smell that evokes familiarity and security in me. Smelling him reminds me of…

Home.

Smelling him makes me feel like I’m home.

I blow my bangs away from my forehead as I feel my face burn. Is it hot in here? It must be the steam that came out from the coffee machine. Yes, that must be it. And not at all this tall drink of water who’s looking at me with the gentlest smile on his face, like he knows that one wrong move and I’m going to bolt out of there.

“Late night last night or early morning today?” he asks, his voice deep and husky, the vibrations of his baritone passing through my body. His sensual voice is in direct contrast to the timidness of his smile.

To distract my mind from going down the path it wants to go upon hearing Jae’s voice, I let out a fake laugh instead. I’m hoping he can’t tell real laughter from fake ones. “Why do you say that?” I ask.

“You looked very intent while watching your coffee come out of the machine earlier.” He does the cutest awkward laugh.

“Well,” I say while focusing on the milk pouring into my mug. If I keep looking at Jae with his dimples and his laugh and his voice and that body, my face will never get back to it’s normal color. “The older I get, the slower it takes for my brain to boot up. I need some caffeine to get it going,” I answer.

Jae nods. “I hear you.”

“And to answer your question, late night last night. I didn’t get to sleep right away so, as usual, I’m sleep deprived right now.”

Jae purses his lips together. “I see. Last night must’ve been some night, huh?” he asked. “Must be nice to be able to go out and have fun. I feel like the only thing I’ve been doing lately is unpacking boxes after boxes of my stuff.”

My eyes narrow and I look up to stare at his face. “I don’t envy you having to unpack ‘cause who wants to do that but what makes you think I was out last night?”

It’s Jae’s turn to be confused and he does that thing when he runs his hand—god, even his hands are beautiful—through his hair as he processes what I just said. “Well, you said that you had a fun night and you stayed up late—”

“Which are both true because I stayed up reading last night, Jae,” I quickly clarify.

His mouth falls open but he’s quick to notice and he immediately shuts it close. “Oh.”

“Yeah. I’m not one for going out during the week day. Hell, I don’t even go out most weekends. So sorry to burst your bubble.”

Jae stares directly into my eyes as he once again shows me his dimples. The way he’s looking at me makes me think that he’s trying to read me. But I’m just imagining that, right? “No, no. I’m the one who’s sorry for assuming that just because you stayed up late, it’s because you’re out partying. Please forgive me.”

I shake my head. “Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing to forgive.”

A colleague whose name I don’t know suddenly bursts into the break room, surprising Jae and myself so much that we both end up taking a step back away from each other. I turn red as a tomato because why did we do that? It’s not as if we’re guilty of something.

“Oh! I’m so sorry. Am I interrupting something?” he has the audacity to ask as he looks at Jae then me then back to Jae.

I shake my head quickly. “No, no. We were just chatting while I wait for my coffee to finish. Well, now that it’s done, I guess I need to go back to my desk and resume working ‘cause we all know how much work we have here in NewCity, right?”

“Y-yeah. Me too. I just printed something and saw Sunny here so I said hi. Well, it was nice to see you, Sunny. You too, uhm, ah, yeah! See you around.” I sneak a look at Jae and feel comforted seeing how red the tips of his ears are. I’m glad I’m not the only one embarrassed.

I don’t even bother to look behind me to see if our colleague said anything after Jae provided his explanation. I grab my mug and then I hightail it back to my area.