Chapter Text
New grunted, leaning his body back against his chair as he stretched his arms overhead. He had just finished his presentation for tomorrow's meeting, finalizing any details he might've forgotten. Looking around the almost empty office room now, he notices a few lingering colleagues of his at their own desks, hunched over their own computers, working away.
It was always like that during the autumn season. Almost everyone would stay after their required hours to finish their work in time. It was the busiest time of the year for the Advertising team, the winter season looming overhead when many of their company's products would go on sales in stores for Christmas and New Year's and it stressed New during the leading months prior December. However, it will pass as fast as it came and everything will settle until summer sales roll around.
Feeling his stomach grumble for some food, New focuses his attention away from his thoughts and determines it was time for him to leave.
Turning back towards his computer, New makes sure to save his work and forward it to his Team Leader before shutting his PC down. He used to forget to fully shut off his computer when he was just starting to work at GMM, but the company head would always nag about saving electricity and it has now become a habit to New after working at the same company for five long years.
New grabs his phone from where it was placed face down beside his keyboard and looks through his contacts, tapping at the name he knew wouldn't mind eating with him after a long workday. New just hoped he hadn't left the building yet. He held his phone to his ear and listened to the ring before the familiar voice of his best friend replaced the noise.
"Hin."
New grinned at the nickname. "Hi, Tay."
"You finished with work on your floor?"
New nodded before realizing Tay couldn't see him. "Yep, just finished. What about you?"
"I'm just about done. We had a quick meeting in my department and we've just wrapped up," Tay answers and New didn't miss the other muffled voice through the line, "Off says hi, by the way."
New laughs. "Hey." He waits as his friend relays his greeting back to Off.
Off and Tay worked at GMM as well; the three were all accepted the same year and were interns, working alongside each other for a few months before getting separated to different departments with Off and Tay in Planning and New in Advertising. In those short months, however, the three grew close and quickly became friends, hanging out whenever they had time.
Once Tay's attention was back on him, New quickly explained his reason of call, "I'm hungry, Tay. Eat with me."
"Of course you are," Tay says after a fond chuckle, "what do you want to eat?"
New smiles at his answer. He loved how easy it was to go out with Tay, knowing the male was friend-oriented. He somehow always had plans with a friend and New sometimes wondered if Tay was ever tired.
"Anything is fine with me," New answers, looking around his desk to see if he had left anything important out before he left, "meet me down at the lobby and we'll decide when we leave." After a short beat, New also asks, "Is Off coming?"
"Off has plans with that one guy he's been flirting with for about a year now," Tay answers and New could see Tay's eye roll in his mind.
New laughs. "Of course."
"I'll see you downstairs in a few then."
"Yep. Bye for now." New hung up, quickly jumping to his feet and stuffing his phone in his front pocket. He cleans his area thoroughly before grabbing his bag and making his way around his desk and out of the office room.
As he walked through the long corridor towards the elevator, he was immediately stopped when he heard a familiar voice shout, "Hey New!"
New turned around and smiled when he saw May rushing towards him, her brown curls bobbing up and down with every step she took. Her hair hugged her face and settled on her shoulders, complimenting her pale skin and her big, brown eyes. Her lips were also tinted red today, New notices.
"What's the Team Leader doing here so late?" New teasingly asks as May falls into step beside him. They have been working together in the same department since New had joined and May had always helped him through his troubles. Now, they were friends who would occasionally eat out unless New already had plans with Tay.
"Should be asking you the same thing," she fights back with a grin.
"Finished up the overview of this month's sales for tomorrow's meeting," New explains, "I sent you the presentation via email."
"I'll check it later," May hums, "Are you getting off work?"
They stop once they were in front of the elevator, New quick to press the down arrow. He turns to face May after. "Yeah, got plans to eat dinner with Tay."
May rolls her eyes, a frown quick to replace her smile. "Of course. You never eat with anyone else."
"I do," New bickers back lightly, careful not to sound defensive, "I ate with you not long ago."
"That was last month," she points out before poking a finger to his arm, "eat with me tomorrow."
New nods his head, hoping to drop the topic. He didn't particularly enjoy arguing with others, especially his friends. Plus, it was May. She stuck around with him for five years now and she was his only friend in the department as well.
She smiles at his answer, before suddenly clapping her hands. "Oh! Right! Actually, I have something to tell you! I almost forgot."
New raises an eyebrow at that, curious as to what she had to say.
"The company is holding a dinner this weekend to relieve stress before the big sales kick in and to build relationships between co-workers as well as other workers in different departments," May explains, sounding as if she was reciting an email. Noticing New's amused face, May adds, "Sounds a bit bullshit to me too, but at least there's free food and alcohol."
"It wasn't because of that!" New shakes the hand that wasn't holding his bag, "You just sounded like one of my business emails."
"Oh." May lets out a giggle before covering it up with a fake cough. "So, do you want to go? Like I said, free drinks and food and I know how much you appreciate anything with the word 'free' in it."
New hummed, letting the thought settle. He wasn't exactly a social person, always preferring to stay home rather than be out. He also wasn't exactly close to anyone else from the company, his friend list only having three people - Tay, Off, and May - and maybe this could be an opportunity to widen that list. There was also so much work to be done, it only becoming busier as September passes and the holidays coming up.
He settles on saying, "I don't know..."
"It's fine!" May reassures with a smile, "You have the rest of the week to think about it!"
New nods, hearing the elevator ding at its arrival. He looks at May and says, "I'll see you tomorrow then."
It was May's turn to nod this time, waving a hand goodbye. "Tell me if you change your mind and I'll send you the details through text."
New steps into the elevator, pressing the button for the first floor and smiling at May one last time as the door closes. He counts the floors down in his head in habit.
-
They were at a restaurant Tay had chosen in the end. New didn't care as long as the food tasted good and he trusted Tay's tongue. They enjoyed the same type of food which was one of the reasons why New loved to eat out with Tay a lot, except for the fact that New was a bit of a sweet tooth. He could never say no to dessert.
"Have you heard about the company dinner that's happening this weekend?" New brings up after the waiter had taken their meal order. He brings his hands to wrap around the glass of water, busying them so they didn't look awkward.
"Yeah," Tay replied, resting his elbows on the table as he cradled his head, "You going?"
"Are you?"
"Why not?" Tay answered, "It's getting busy at work and this is my last chance at de-stressing before the hell holidays hit."
"And free booze is going to help that?" New asked, raising an eyebrow at his friend. The lighting in the restaurant was pretty shit, but New still noticed how attractive Tay was.
"There's free food too," Tay points out, "So, you going?"
New lets out a short sigh, shoulders slumping and gaze shifting towards his drink. "I don't know..."
"You look tired," Tay blurts out all of a sudden.
That makes New's lips crack a smile. "That's because I am tired."
New looks up at his friend when he didn't reply immediately and notices the frown on his lips. Tay asks, "When was your last day off?"
"I've been working non-stop these past two weeks and I was hoping to catch a break this weekend," New says, letting go of his drink and instead, tucking them under his thighs, "but suddenly, there's a company dinner."
Tay sits silently for a few ticking seconds before saying, "I think I know what you need, New."
"And what is that?"
Tay smirks, dropping his hands onto the table and leaning in close. New follows his friend's lead with his own, almost like they were sharing secrets. "When was the last time you had sex with someone?"
New backed away, glaring at Tay who had started laughing at New's reaction. "You've been hanging around Off too much!" New accuses, crossing his arms across his chest childishly.
Tay shrugs once he quiets down. "Look, you look hella tired, okay? You've been working way too hard and you need to relax some and that's one way to, right?" Tay shuts up when the waiter comes with their food, placing their plates of mouth-watering food in front of them. Once they leave, Tay adds, "Plus it feels good."
"You're crazy," New replies as he watches Tay dig into his meal, but the thought still lingers in New's mind.
It has been a while since he did any sort of sexual activity. New has been so busy with work that he barely has time to even get himself off when he wakes with morning wood nevermind having sex with anybody. And even if he agreed with Tay, who would he even have sex with? New wasn't really a flirty guy despite his looks - yes, he was very aware of how he looked. Tay liked to remind him of it sometimes.
"See, you're thinking about it," Tay annoyingly interrupts his thoughts.
"It doesn't matter," New says, "I don't have anyone to have sex with. Your idea has failed already."
"That's easy," Tay says with a wave of his hand, stuffing his face with rice before continuing, "we're having a company dinner, right?"
New nods warily.
"There'll be plenty of girls there."
New thins his lips. "I don't know, Tay."
"I'll even help you. Off too!"
New lets out a snort. "That sounds like an awful plan. You two might make the girls run away instead."
"Shut up!" Tay barks with a laugh, leaning across the table to playfully push New. "Are you coming now or not?"
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." New agrees, just wanting the topic to end. He picks up his own spoon, finally letting himself dig in as conversation switches to when they're planning to go to the gym.