The door to the room closed as he fixed his tie. His slippers scratched against the floorboards on his way to the ante. Early this morning, the sound of a vacuum cleaner ravaged around the house. Wouldn't that wake his brother? Or his mother?

"Oh, you're on your way already?" Hye-jin popped up from the living room as he was putting on his shoes. Her smile rivaled the bright sunlight streaming past their open windows, bathing the house with its warm strength. "Take some lunch with you."

He bobbed his head. Hye-jin bustled away, humming under her breath some song that's been trending these days. He followed her to the kitchen immediately. The sounds of utensils and pans clanging against each other rang inside. Damn it. The least he could do in this house was pack his own food. He started to reach out. "Hye-jin, I—"

"I put some side dishes in there so make sure you eat it, okay?" Hye-jin shoved a bag in his arms, strolling past him towards the living room where the vacuum was laid against the wall. She fired it up and started rolling it across the floor in expert swings. He should also be the one doing that. Perhaps on the weekend, when he got a bit of time.

"Make sure you share some with your colleagues too," she waved him off, talking over the sharp throng of the vacuum. "Go now. You'll be late."

"Hye-jin," he called.

She turned to him, sensing the seriousness in his tone. The vacuum quieted. "Yeah?"

"Log into Solarlume later," he said. "Let's meet in Liliode at around 9? I'll be sure to sneak in at work. Just to give you something."

Really, it was something he had planned while he was riding the subway on his way home yesterday. It wasn't special, but he'd had enough skirting around Hye-jin for the past few months. He at least wanted to have time with her through the thing they both loved.

He didn't wait for Hye-jin's answer as his request seemed to have stunned her into silence. He just reached out and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "Gotta run," he smiled, even though it didn't quite reach his eyes, and dashed out of the house.

It was busy as usual when he got to work. The time passed swiftly, the clock ticking on the far wall from his cubicle seemed to be jumping hurdles just to get through the day. Soon, the bright sunlight turned golden, and finally, into a dark sliver from beyond the office windows. For once, no one approached him to tell him Ashley was calling. Perhaps, he'd be able to go home at a reasonable time today. He might even get to play with Hye-jin instead of doing it in his office, which was, kind of, illegal.

That's when he noticed the bag he deposited on his desk. It hasn't been touched since he arrived in the morning. One glance at the city beyond the windows told him enough. He had missed lunch. Again. And he didn't even notice it.

Hye-jin's going to kill him.

Know what? He should just go home. Now.

"Ashley's office," Andrews' voice bled in Rin's ear. It was delivered as no more than a passing remark as he literally made his way to his cubicle to the far end of the room. It was because he was sure to pass by Rin that Ashley always made him a messenger. The man's getting tired of it, as Rin could glean from the way his eyes squinted and his lips turned down at the edges whenever he said those words.

Rin groaned, inwardly, that was. Did Ashley exist just to get in his way at all times?

Still, he picked his way to the single closed room in this department. He pushed the glass-plated door open and stepped inside. "You called?" he said. "Look, I really need to go home—"

"Have you set up the meeting for Adzoma?" Ashley asked with a pointed tone, stopping Rin from whatever's coming out of his mouth. "We need to meet our quota for this month and they're the only ones who could get us there."

Rin pursed his lips. It was on his agenda for today but he had been bogged down by most of the encoding work the part-timers weren't doing. He put it in for tomorrow. "No, ma'am," he said. "I'll look into it tomorrow—"

"There's no time," she interjected. "Go and do that now. And drive me to the company huddle at 8. Make sure to bring my car. I ain't riding on the subway."

Left with no choice, Rin ducked out of her office and trekked back to his cubicle. He glanced at his watch. 6:30. Still plenty of time to get things done. He might need to get back to the office after the huddle to continue working.

When it was ticking 8:00, he strode towards Ashley's office to find her already dressed and her make-up retouched and glowing. She looked more like an actress than their department manager. "Let's go," she said, sashaying out of the floor and into the elevator. Rin followed in her wake, keeping his head down in case other fellows began assuming things.

The drive to the huddle took at most half an hour. It's good. He'd make it, if he just stepped on the pedal. They got to the venue—a high-class bar with bright, neon signs illuminating their facade. Ashley hurried inside with Rin in tow. He watched his boss enter a VIP room after flashing her company ID at the men in suits wearing shades over their eyes.

Inside were a couple of the company execs and was that...the CEO?

"Before you flit to whatever hole you go to, keep your ass here," Ashley hissed under her breath. The electro pop beats ramming against his eardrum from the dancefloor made it barely audible for me, much less to the people already inside. "You need to drive me back. I'm planning to get wasted."

Rin nodded, not finding the strength to argue that this was way more than his paygrade. Instead, he ducked inside the room and forced himself to listen to Ashley titter and lay her charm on some of the company's top people. In the end, it'd be okay if they didn't meet the quota for this month or they didn't meet the projections of the Finance department. Rin would be foolish if he thought it's going to help with his workload. Ashley's going to dump the same amount on him and guilt him into it.

He could already hear her yakking at the back of his head. "Here I am, doing all that work because of you, underperforming asses," she would be sure to say. "I should have all of you work double shifts for the rest of the year with this kind of output."

And yet, she seemed to only put him on double shifts. The rest of the employees get to enjoy normal working hours. Then, one of the execs noticed Rin seated on the edge of the cushion. "What's that young lad doing?" he said, sliding a glass across the table. "Go on, drink up! This is fine champagne. Don't waste it!"

Rin glanced at Ashley but she wasn't looking at him. She's no doubt simmering under the surface as the exec just took her driver for the night. It'd be rude to refuse such a person of high standing in the company he was working in, so he took the glass and graciously accepted the drink being poured in it. All nods and forced smiles.

Later, he reeked of alcohol so much he doubted it would ever leave his collar and his tie. As soon as Ashley started slurring and lost her grip of her managerial persona, it's Rin's job to get her out of there. He ducked his head at the execs who managed to stay upright as they finished their fifth bottle for the night and dragged his boss past the booming sounds of the club and finally into the curb.

After hailing a cab for his drunk boss, he took out his phone and opened it. The time leaped at him. 10:33. Damn. He couldn't go home like this. Hye-jin would totally murder him now. First, he didn't get to eat lunch and now he's drinking so late into the night.

Perhaps it was the alcohol or something else, but he dialed the number associated with the name Ryon Mills.

A reedy voice answered, muffled by the distance between them. "Hello? Rin? Why are you calling me at this hour, dude?"

Rin sighed. The cold turned his breath into visible plumes of smoke past his lips. When did winter even come? "I drank a bit so I can't drive," he said. "I'll crash by your place a bit. Can't exactly go home like this."

The other side crackled as Ryon chuckled. It was a breathy scoff more than anything. "Man, looks like Jin's don't got no chill," he said. The sound of keys jingling rang from the background. "Aight. I'll pick you up. Where were you?"

Rin looked behind him and read what's written on the signage. They agreed to hang up and within a few minutes, a sleek red car pulled up along the sidewalk. A ginger head popped up from the driver's seat just as Rin yanked at the passenger side's door and ducked inside. Maybe Ryon saw the look on his face or gathered as much from the state of his rumpled collar and loose tie, but he didn't say anything on their way back to his house.

Rin closed his eyes and rested his head against the seat's headrest, heaving a deep sigh. As they sped through the dark highway, something nipped at the back of his mind. He might be forgetting something important, something that he thought about in the morning but had now been eaten by the desire to just hit the sack and sleep for eternity.

He was forgetting something, and he didn't have the energy to figure out what. Would he regret it in the morning? Well, he'd find out once he got there.

If he gets there.