??????? ?? ??? ??? || ???????

Seokmin had never been good at hiding his emotions. His friends used to joke that his face was an open book, his every thought written in the curve of his brows, the press of his lips, the way his ears would burn when he was flustered.

But now, as he stood in the company break room, hands gripping the paper cup filled with bitter coffee, he wished he had any ability to school his expression into something unreadable.

Because Joshua had just walked in.

And Seokmin ran.

Not literally, he didn’t want to be that obvious but he turned so abruptly he nearly spilled his coffee, muttered something unintelligible under his breath, and walked out as fast as his legs would carry him.

He could feel Joshua’s gaze following him.

It wasn’t the first time that day.

For hours, Seokmin had been avoiding Joshua like the plague, keeping his head down, focusing too intently on his work, refusing to let his eyes so much as glance in the direction of the man who had been haunting him since dawn.

The man he had dreamt about.

His stomach twisted at the memory.

The weight of Joshua’s body caging him in, the warmth of his breath against Seokmin’s skin, the heat in his gaze as he whispered, "Mine."

The sharp sting of teeth sinking into his throat-

Seokmin shook his head, shoving the thought away.

No. No, he could not think about that.

Not here. Not now. Not when Joshua was probably still standing in the break room, watching him run like a coward.

To distract himself, he latched onto the nearest person- Mingyu.

The alpha was  loud and easygoing, who pulled him into conversation effortlessly, who laughed at his bad jokes and kept him distracted.

It worked.

For a while.

What Seokmin didn’t know, what he didn’t see was Joshua standing a few feet away, watching him from across the office.

And fuming.

By the time Seokmin got home, he was exhausted.

Every nerve in his body was on edge, his emotions frayed from a full day of avoiding the one person he was supposed to be able to stand.

Because that was the whole point, wasn’t it?

This fake marriage, this whole thing was meant to be an arrangement that benefitted them both.

Joshua got to keep his secretary close, and Seokmin got his parents off his back.

There was nothing more to it.

So why was his body betraying him like this? Why was he-

Seokmin sighed, rubbing his hands over his face as he kicked off his shoes in the entryway.

He needed sleep.

He needed to--

“You’re home.”

Seokmin’s entire body tensed.

He looked up.

Joshua was already there.

Sitting on the couch, legs crossed, his body leaned back against the cushions, watching Seokmin with an unreadable expression.

Seokmin’s mouth went dry.