#*rose.exe not responding*

[allpromarlo]

i've gone through the bpwf tag like 56 times at this point and i've yet to see a single post mentioning how m'baku called okoye a "bald headed demon". i'm disappointed in you all

[thenovelartist]

Don’t Leave

What’s this? Another Age Matters story? My first 6+1 story? Yes it is! And it’s a birthday gift for my friend and twin @chocoluckchipz

Synopsis: The six times Daniel asks Rose not to leave, and the one time she asks him.

1.

“Don’t leave.”

Rose halts by the door to his apartment, doing everything she can not to glare at him. She’d had a long day, and she was ready to go home and hit the sack.

Unfortunately, her boss was looking as serious as always. Maybe a little more so than normal because he was likely sleep deprived, too.

“The dishes need to be done.”

Yup. She was thinking he was going to say something like that. “Normally, you do them.”

“I’m busy,” he countered.

“Sure, sure. Whatever,” she dismissed, heading towards the kitchen. “Just do whatever you do cooped up in that little office of yours.

“I could do without the attitude, Miss Choi.”

“I could do without you being my boss twice over, but we can’t all get what we want.”

He glared at her, and she returned it with a sarcastic grin. With a sigh, he ignored her before retreating into his office.

Rose turned back to the dishes with a grin on her face. Oh, how she did love riling him up. When she first started this job, there was no way she’d pull an attitude like that. Now, a month in, and she had no problem poking fun at him like that. How they’d fallen into this routine, Rose didn’t know. They hadn’t known each other that long, yet they had clicked, becoming what Rose thought was actually a great team.

At least, Rose thought so. Mr. Grumpy might have other opinions.

…

2.

“Are you still working?” Rose asked, seeing her boss hunched over his computer, typing away. She should have left an hour ago, but she also knew that leaving the pile of paperwork on her desk until tomorrow could not happen since she’d likely have yet another stack just as large waiting for her when she came in in the morning.

“Yes,” he answered, not looking up at her. “And I’ll be here a while longer yet.”

Rose shook her head. “And it can’t wait ‘til tomorrow?”

“It’s not that late.”

“It’s six.”

Daniel paused for a moment before looking at her. “And you’re still here?”

“Yes, because I had a lot of work to do.”

“You could have asked for help.”

She scoffed. “Like I was going to ask you or Andrew or anyone else who has been running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”

Daniel smirked at that. Only for a second, but he still had smirked. She’d count it as a win. His smile in any form was really nice. “Go home, Miss Choi. Thanks for your work today.”

Rose frowned. “Are you going to be here much longer?”

“No.”

“Really?” she asked doubtfully.

“Really.”

Yeah, she didn’t believe him.

“Okay,” she said, heading out. But it wouldn’t be for long. She ran over to the nearest food shop and ordered two meals to go, deciding that if he was still there when she returned, she’d force him to eat and take some of his work to finish, as well.

And lo and behold, he was still at his desk.

“What are you doing here? Didn’t you leave?” he asked, though he didn’t seem too angry despite him trying to look frustrated.

She held up the two bags, each one containing a meal. “I brought you food, or else you’re gonna work through the night without eating, right?”

He didn’t correct her.

With a knowing smile, she offered him a bag with his meal. “Here.”

He stared at the bag a moment before taking the bag, looking her straight in the eye. “Thank you.”

She felt her heart flutter and cheeks warm at his sincerity. He didn’t show it often, but it put that much more weight on the times he did. She relished those moments whenever Daniel let his façade break and his heart shine through. “You’re welcome. I just want you to take care of yourself, that’s all. And you can’t do that when you skip dinner to work.”

“I don’t have that much more.”

Rose gave him a flat look. “You told me that half an hour ago.”

His eyes locked on hers, but his expression wasn’t readable.

“Do you really have ‘not that much more’?” she asked. “Or are you just saying that?”

He paused, then sighed in surrender. “I have another hour or two. I could get it done at home, but I would rather get it done here.”

“I could help you, you know.”

“It’s fine. You’ve done enough. I know how much work you had today, Miss Choi.”

“Yeah, but I can’t in good conscious just abandon you here to be here for who-actually-knows-how-long. I wouldn’t be your nanny—”

“Nanny?”

“If I did. And yes, nanny,” she snipped. “Heaven knows you can’t take care of yourself without me.”

“I get by just fine, thank you.”

“I have worked for you for two months, and I beg to differ.”

He frowned at her, but she knew him well enough to know there was no weight behind it.

It actually made her smile. “So, do you want me to leave, or do you want me to stay and help you get your work done so that you can go to sleep at a reasonable time and we can avoid you working yourself sick again?”

His gaze fell to the desk, and he hid his lips behind his steepled hands.

She just waited.

He glanced up at her with a raised brow.

She knew that look in his eyes. She smiled.

“Don’t leave.”

His words made her feel like a winner, and she happily plopped down on the couch in his office. “You can make it up to me later,” she said with a smirk and a wink before digging into her own food.

She noticed he was trying not to pay her attention, but she also noticed how he was trying to hide a smile.

“Get over here,” she called out, pulling her bowl of take-out out of the bag. “You’re not gonna sit at your desk and eat, are you? I’m here to help you get all that work done so you can at least take a break to eat your dinner.”

He sighed, grabbing his bag of food and walking over to the couch. “There’s never a dull moment with you, Miss Choi.”

She smiled. “Good to know I’m doing my job.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I meant.”

“Sure, it wasn’t.”

…

3.

Those four months flew by far too quickly.

And before she knew it, everything was settled in the company and her time was up.

There was nothing more she wanted than to stay. She liked working for Daniel. She honestly did. And she wished that he’d tell her to stay. But when Andrew introduced her to the new secretary, she knew that wasn’t going to happen.

She detailed everything that she did and where to find everything and then told him to refer to her notes if he had any questions.

She got a kick out of watching his eyes widen when she dropped the huge two-inch binders in front of him.

The day came for her to pack up. She didn’t have many things here, but she did still have a few. It didn’t take much for her to pack up her things into a box. But before she could pick it up, a hand grabbed the side of it, keeping it on the desk.

“Don’t leave.”

She stared at Daniel, unsure how to process his words or his red cheeks.

She felt her own cheeks heat up when he finally turned her way, his eyes locking on hers. “W-what?”

“You don’t have to leave.”

Her brow knit together in confusion. “Well, that was the contract, wasn’t it?” she asked. “Four months. A temporary position.”

“It… was,” he said, glancing away. “So, maybe I can persuade you to sign a new one? One that would be… permanent.”

Her eyes widened as she processed those words. “But… but the new guy I was showing around—”

“Wasn’t my idea,” he finished. “Ms. Zhao suggested him and told him he would be hired before I could.”

“And you just let her get away with that?”

“Not exactly,” he responded. “I apologized to him for the misunderstanding and properly chastised her for trying to intrude in my affairs.”

He looked at her once again. “So, do you agree to stay, Miss Choi?”

It took her a long moment to process those words, but once she did, she couldn’t help but smile.  “You know,” she said teasingly. “I would have appreciated you telling me this before, you know, I packed all my stuff.”

He huffed, a slight smile perking up on his lips. “I apologize for the inconvenience. Does this mean I should write up a new contract?”

“Of course. But just so you know, it has nothing to do with the fact I like working for you and everything to do with the paycheck.” She then sent him a wink, feeling particularly cheeky. But he seemed to bring out the worst in her that way.

His blush deepened, but he chuckled. “Of course.”

…

4.

Never did she think she’d see him again.

And never did she think he’d just show up on her doorstep.

“You look well, Rose.”

She should have slammed the door in this bastard’s face right then.

Yet, she couldn’t. She found herself utterly entranced by the fact the man she had at one point thought she was going to marry was now standing in front of her apartment.

“Can I come in?” he asked, that stupid smile she had once loved on his face. “And talk?”

She was frozen. “No. We… we can talk out here,” she said, her voice shockingly shaky despite her determination to be strong. She wouldn’t let him break her again. She shouldn’t even be giving him the chance.

He frowned. “I guess that’s understandable. I made a mistake that—”

“A mistake?” Rose snipped, memories of that night flooding back to her and bringing anger with them. “You call disowning me—your girlfriend, at the time—to another woman a mistake?”

He looked appropriately abashed. “Yes, and a very stupid one—”

“No shit, sherlock,” she snapped, anger pouring off her in waves. Honestly, she was one step away from punching that face she once thought was pretty.

“Rose,” he said, his expression a pitiful one at this point. “Do we really have to make a scene in the hallway? Can’t we step inside and I can explain—”

“Explain what? Just how big of an idiot you were?”

“Yes,” he said. “And beg for your forgiveness, and maybe I’m fooling myself, but maybe we can start over.”

She blinked, unsure if she even heard him correctly.

“I think she’d be an idiot if she agreed to that.”

In a flash, Rose’s anger disappeared as she looked over to see Daniel standing there, eyes narrowed at her ex.

Her ex returned the glare. “Who are you?”

“Her current boyfriend.”

Rose.exe stopped working.

Her ex-boyfriend’s eyes shot open wide as Daniel moved to Rose’s side. “Generally speaking, the words ‘I made a mistake,’ when spoke by an ex allude to said ex having done something purposefully and being upset that they were caught. I think it’s in her best interest to avoid you from now on.”

Rose could practically feel the tension between the two men in the hallway. She cringed, trying to process what to do.

In the end, she grabbed Daniel’s arm in the way a girlfriend would. “I couldn’t have said it better myself. Now, if you’ll excuse us.” With that, she pulled Daniel inside and slammed the door in her ex’s face.

And then collapsed against the door with a sigh.

“Are you okay?”

She looked up at Daniel, who was giving her a look of concern.

She forced a smile. “Yeah, just fine.”

He hummed, clearly not believing it.

“Thanks, by the way,” she said, her voice weak. “For saving me like that.”

“It didn’t seem like you were doing anything to get rid of him,” he commented. “I was worried you were going to let him talk you into listening to him.”

“Ha!” she scoffed. “As if! I’d be better off marrying you then trying to start up something with him again.”

Honestly, the moment those words came out of her mouth, she regretted them. Any girl who did marry Daniel would actually be extremely lucky. He was an incredible young man, one dedicated and kind in his own awkward way. Most of all, once you got past his cold exterior, he was genuine in a very warm way. Never would she had assumed when she met him that his heart was that tender, but it was.

The smile she’d forced on her face fell as she watched Daniel look off to the side, unmoving, with a blush on his cheeks. An embarrassed blush of her own warmed her cheeks. “Mr. Yoon?”

“Would I really be that bad?” he asked, finally turning to face her, a worried look on his face.

Her eyes widened as her mouth went suddenly dry. “Uhh—”

“Nevermind,” he said, turning away from her, a new, darker red hue coloring his cheeks. “Just don’t leave. Especially for a guy like that. You can do better.”

She gave him an awkward half smile. “Yeah, I know.” Problem is my sights are now too high.

And that’s all your fault.

…

5.

She’d been suppressing her feelings for Daniel for a while. And she knew she was being ridiculously petty over wishing Via would just disappear. At thirty years of age, Rose was a fully grown adult, and getting angry at Via for being prettier than her was completely childish. So was getting angry over the fact that Via was posing with Daniel for some photo-op thing that Rose really wanted to pretend didn’t happen. It had happened once before, so why was she so riled this time?

Halfway through the shoot, her feelings were so strong she decided to remove herself from it completely.

In the breakroom, she indulged in a donut from the snack table, thinking shoving her face with the empty calories was better than being jealous over Via for being able to be so close to Daniel.

“Miss Choi?”

She looked up from her half-eaten donut to see Daniel standing there. “Is it over?” she asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.

He shook his head. “You ran out of the shoot, so I wanted to make sure you were feeling okay. You haven’t looked well all day.”

To be honest, she hadn’t felt well all day. Maybe it was because she was dreading this stupid shoot. But she also knew she was being childish about it and that she could be professional. Yet at the same point, she really didn’t want nor need to be here. “Honestly, unless you need me for something, I’d like to leave. But if you need me, I’ll stick around.”

His hand then reached out to touch her forehead, which immediately set her face ablaze. “You do feel warm.”

“The studio lights are hot,” she dismissed, moving away from his gentle touch before her heart started pounding even more.

He frowned. “Is that all?”

No, but I can’t exactly tell you I’m in love with you and jealous of Via.

He looked conflicted. “Don’t leave,” he asked. Quietly. Hesitantly. “I prefer when you’re there. But then again, if you feel that ill, you should go lie down and I’ll drive you home once this is over.”

Her brow furrowed though her poor heart pounded. “Why?”

“Because…” His face turned red and he turned away, shoving his hands into his pockets for a moment.

“Daniel?” she asked, leaning forward on the table to get a little closer to him, ready to check his forehead in worry he was getting sick.

But before she could, his hand shot out of his pocket to cover hers on the table. “Because,” he said. “Don’t leave.”

His cheeks were bright red and he refused to look at her. Her heart was going to beat out of her chest, and she suddenly found it hard to breathe.

When she put her other hand on top of his, his gaze finally met hers. And that’s when it hit her.

She smiled.

Apparently, she wasn’t the only one with feelings.

…

6.

Dating Daniel was definitely not on the list of things she’d ever thought she’d be doing in her life. Yet, here she was, six months into their awkward relationship. For being as cold as he was when she met him, for being the workaholic he had been, she never would have guessed he was actually surprisingly clingy.

He liked touches and hugs, sure. But the Daniel version of ‘clingy’ boiled down to two words.

Don’t leave.

She was more than happy to oblige. Clingy for Daniel meant staying late and watching terrible television. It meant going out to eat and driving around the city for a while to avoid dropping her off at her apartment. It meant offering to drag him outside for long walks together, hand-in-hand.

It was little things like that. But if Rose was being completely honest, the fact that he valued her so much as to not want to leave her side meant the world to her. It meant more than the expensive dinners out or fancy gifts of designer clothes or fine jewelry. This time with him made her feel valued, too. It made her feel comfortable in their relationship.

When they arrived home at the end of the day, he grabbed her hand before she could slip away to her apartment. “Don’t leave.”

And she would always smile. “Okay.”

He’d drag her inside his apartment and they would probably sit on the couch and watch tv until one of them fell asleep. But to her surprise, when they sat down on the couch, Daniel didn’t turn on the tv.

For a while, he just fiddled with his hands, rubbing them together while his face turned a dark shade of red.

Meaning he was prepping himself to ask something.

She waited with a smile and a blush of her own. Her mind ran wild with the things he was going to ask of her.

“I want this to be a permanent relationship.”

However, what sounded like a very Daniel marriage proposal was not at the top of that list of things he’d potentially say. “What?”

“I like being with you,” he said. “And things are going well between us.”

They were, there was no denying that. “I like being with you, too.”

“I don’t want to be in a relationship if there’s no point to it,” he said. “If it doesn’t have an end goal.”

She swallowed. Was this a Daniel-style marriage proposal? “And that is—?”

“Marriage,” he finished, finally looking up at her. “I don’t think there’s a point to being in a relationship unless you see your partner as a permanent partner.”

She just sat there, stunned. He moved fast, didn’t he?

But then again, this was a man who created a multi-billion-dollar company at age nineteen, so obviously, he wasn’t one to waste time.

“So,” he said, pulling a wedding ring out of his pocket. One that was so stunningly beautiful that Rose’s jaw dropped to the floor. “Will you marry me?”

It took a moment for her to formulate an answer. “That’s a huge rock.”

He looked at her blankly for a moment before a crooked smile crossed her face. He huffed. “That… that is something you would say,” he commented amusedly, hiding his face behind one hand.

She blushed, realizing that was not the right answer. “Daniel.”

He moved his hand so he could see her.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.”

…

+1

He was pleasantly comfortable. So much so that he really didn’t want to leave his bed. Or her.

Mostly her.

But his alarm was going to go off and he really didn’t have much a choice. He was currently kicking himself for wanting to have an earlier flight. But how was he supposed to know that the morning after their marriage would be such a special time.

As carefully as he could in a desperate effort not to wake the woman in his…their bed, he slipped out of her embrace and turned to get up out of bed, just enough to reach his phone to turn off the alarm.

Only to be stopped by her hand grabbing his elbow.

He turned back around to see her eyes, bleary with sleep, blinking up at him. “Don’t leave,” she begged, pout on her lips.

His heart was aching for her, even though he hadn’t been planning on leaving in the first place. Honestly, it was shocking just how cold it was when he wasn’t snuggled under the covers with her. “Just to turn off the alarm,” he told her.

She whined but let him go. “Why d’you even have an alarm on?” she mumbled, her eyes shutting once again. “We’re on our honeymoon.”

Daniel smiled. “Because I’m taking you on a real honeymoon, remember? We’ll have to get up soon.”

She grunted. “Fine. I’ll let you get a pass for that.”

He chuckled before grabbing his phone and turning the alarm for a little later. He had a feeling that neither of them would want to get up again, though they’d have to if they wanted to make their plane.

He set the phone down and turned back to the woman in bed, his wife as of yesterday when they went down to the courthouse and got married. He’d asked Rose over and over if she was sure she was okay with a courthouse wedding and not an actual ceremony. But she’d just smiled and said it was simpler that way.

Honestly, Daniel was really thankful for it. It had been just the two of them with no pomp and circumstance or hassle of actually planning the thing.

The moment he slipped back into bed, pulling the covers up over them, she snuggled back up to him, throwing her arms around his waist and nuzzling her head into his shoulder. At one point in time, he would have definitely had an issue with such a clingy woman, but with her…

He’d let Rose get away with just about anything.

“You’re warm,” she mumbled against his chest, causing sparks to skitter across his skin.

He just draped his own arms over her, smile on his face as he held her close.

“I’m so lucky,” she continued. “I love you.”

His heart was pounding in his chest, like it often did when he was around her. It was a hopeless cause, but he was okay with that. “I love you, too.”

[rainbowrosegames]

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